Reading Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief
by Miss Suger Unicorn
Summary: Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Jason, and Reyna are flashed into the Olympus throne room to read a book that happens one year into their future with the gods Zeus, Poseidon, Athena, Aphrodite, Artemis, and Ares. Done before but I think that the most enjoyable ones are the ones where the characters don't know what lies in their future.
1. I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra

I always thought that people should finish these sort of books when they started, but they never do – and that always upset me. So I figured I'll do one myself and I _will_ keep posting chapters.

Disclaimer: This is not mine. Everything in regular font (besides this) belongs to the amazing Rick Roirdan and I take no credit in anything but the comments that are in bold.

I hope you enjoy

**The story on how they ended up reading a book about Percy Jackson is long and not very fun.**

**It involved curses from a blond haired girl and furious gods (yes, **_**gods**_**) who wanted to blow them up, and a half goat boy who had to pee.**

**"Brother!" Poseidon shouted above his brother's loud voice. "Perhaps we should ask what they are doing here first."**

**Poseidon usually would have blasted them himself, but he knew who that green eyed boy was, he had visited him once when he was just a baby. It was his son, Percy.**

**Zeus gave his brother a sharp, incredulous look but straightened out in his throne and glared down at the demigods below him. "Who are you, demigods?"**

**The blond haired girl hurriedly bowed and lifted her head, with a proud look on her face Poseidon knew all too well. "I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena."**

**A blonde haired boy looked at her weirdly, as did a girl with black hair.**

**Athena studied her daughter and nodded. "Yes, Annabeth, are you enjoying your gift?"**

**Annabeth smiled. "Yes, it's been fun using it."**

**The goat boy beside her tripped over his feet to bow and said, "Grover Underwood, junior protector."**

**"Yes, I know who you are," Zeus grumbled.**

**Grover looked frightened and mortified.**

**The blond haired boy and the black haired girl glanced at each other nervously and bowed at the same time.**

**"I'm Reyna," the black haired girl said, "daughter of Bellona."**

**"Jason Grace," The blond boy said, "son of Jupiter."**

**Poseidon looked sharply at his brother. "Another child, brother?"**

**"Yes," Zeus said. "But we will deal with that later. Boy, who are you."**

**Poseidon knew Percy was only eleven, and had **_**no**_** idea why he suddenly flashed in the room with giant people in it, but he hoped he wouldn't say anything stupid.**

**"Percy. Who are you?"**

**Zeus looked stricken. "Who am I? I am Zeus, lord of the sky!"**

**"You mean like the myths?" Percy said. Worse thing he could say in a room full of gods.**

**"Myths!" Ares thundered. "If I run you through with my sword right now, will that be a myth?"**

**"Possibly not," Percy said, eying Ares' swords worriedly.**

**"Disrespectful," Hera said, scandalized. "In a room full of gods and he calls us **_**myths**_**."**

**"What else can you expect from a boy," Artemis said scathingly. "We should just blast him right now."**

**"He doesn't know," Poseidon said. "He must not know about his godly parent yet. He hasn't been to Camp Halfblood - I'm assuming."**

**Athena inspected Percy as though he were a complicated puzzle. "Then someone should tell him - somewhere else."**

**"I will," Annabeth sighed, getting to her feet. "I'll be fast."**

**Percy looked at her reproachfully as she went to him. "I don't want to have another lesson about myths. I almost fell asleep from the last one."**

**The room shook with rage as all the gods glowered at the boy.**

**"Come **_**on**_**, Percy," Annabeth snapped, looking as though she wished she could call him worse names, "before you get yourself blown up."**

**Annabeth took his wrist and dragged him out of the room.**

**"Why are you here?" Zeus demanded of the others.**

**"We don't know, Lord Zeus," Grover said shakily. "We had thought you summoned us."**

**"Why would we summon you?" Ares snorted.**

**Grover went red.**

**"So, if you don't know why you arrived here, and we don't know," Hermes mused. "Then that means this was an accident."**

**Athena tsked and rolled her eyes. "**_**That**_** was obvious. The question is **_**who**_** sent them here and **_**why**_**."**

**Almost on cue, a pile of books fell from midair and landed on Jason's head.**

**"Ow," he said.**

**Reyna reached forward and read the titles of the books. "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Percy Jackson and the Olym. . . they are all Percy Jackson and the Olympians, alright? The Lightning Thief, the Sea of Monsters, the Titan's Curse, the Battle of the Labyrinth, and the Last Olympian."**

**"Wasn't that boy's name Percy?" Athena said.**

**"Yes," Poseidon answered immediately. "Do you think they are about him?"**

**"They have his name on it, don't they?" Zeus was looking displeased. "Why does it say the lightning thief? Who stole my lightning?"**

**"Well, we all know who the god of thieves is," Artemis said.**

**"What!" Hermes looked stricken. "What would I do with a lighting-?"**

**"It could have been one of your sons," Apollo allowed. "It doesn't necessarily have to be you."**

**"Nothing happened yet," Athena said.**

**"Yet?" Zeus demanded. "What do you mean 'yet'?"**

**"I mean that these books are obviously from the future," Athena said, as though it was normal. "Percy's future. And these demigods - and satyr - are part of it."**

**Just then, a surprised Percy and an annoyed Annabeth walked into the room.**

**"You're gods!" Percy exclaimed when he seen the giant people sitting on their thrones.**

**Annabeth slapped her forehead. "I've already **_**told**_** you that, idiot!"**

**"I'm adjusting," Percy said in annoyance. "Lay off."**

**Annabeth took a deep breath and stomped away from Percy, who scowled and strolled over to the group of demigods and satyr.**

**"So. . ." Percy said awkwardly. "What's up?"**

**After a lot of explaining, everyone finally got through Percy's head that they would be reading his future thoughts, and that they would be very important ("That doesn't make you important, idiot," Annabeth was kind to point out.)**

**"So can I read first?" Annabeth said. She took the first book in her hands and read clearly. **"Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief."

"I ACCIDENTALLY VAPORIZE  
MY PRE-ALGEBRA TEACHER"

**"What?" Percy said. "How?"**

**"She was probably a monster," Annabeth said, though she didn't know why a monster would disguise themselves as a teacher.**

**"My teacher . . . is a monster?" Percy said.**

**Annabeth scowled. "Yes."**

**"So if I don't do my homework she will - literally - kill me?"**

**Annabeth shook her head and decided to keep reading.**

"Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.

**"Why not?" Percy said. "It sounds pretty cool."**

**Every Halfblood in the room glared at him.**

**"Cool?" Jason said. "Do you know how tough it is? Killing monsters every second and doing training every day so you can keep yourself alive?"**

**Percy thought that sounded even cooler, but the way the blond kid said it made him hesitate.**

If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now.  
Believe what-ever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.  
Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.

**"Are you sure this is me?" Percy said doubtfully.**

**"Yes, boy," Athena was getting really annoyed with him, not to mention he reminded her a lot like someone. . . "It has your name on the title."**

If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being  
able to believe that none of this ever happened.

**"It hasn't even happened yet." Percy muttered.**

But if you recognize yourself in these pages—if you feel something stirring inside—stop reading  
immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they  
sense it too, and they'll come for you.  
Don't say I didn't warn you.  
My name is Percy Jackson.

**Percy grinned.**

**"That's you," Grover said.**

**Percy was startled to see him. "Are you a donkey?"**

**Everyone laughed, even the gods (which were Athena, Zeus, Artemis, Ares, Poseidon and Aphrodite; all the other gods left).**

**"I'm half goat!" Grover said, offended. "Don't you know a goat from a donkey?"**

**"Right, sorry," Percy said.**

I'm twelve years old.

**"No I'm not," Percy said. "I'm eleven."**

**"Then this will happen a year into the future," Athena said. "We should pay extra attention now."**

Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy,

**Percy looked down, a bit sad. "Guess I got expelled from my school now . . . again."**

**Reyna didn't know why but she felt the need to comfort the boy. "Don't worry, lots of demigods get expelled a lot. We were all labeled troublemakers."**

**"Did you get expelled a lot?" Percy asked.**

**"I don't go to school," Reyna said. "I live in an island with a sorceress and her sister."**

**"Cool."**

a private  
school for troubled kids in upstate New York.  
Am I a troubled kid?

**"No," Percy said defiantly.**

Yeah. You could say that.

**"What?" Percy said, turning red as everyone laughed. "I am not!"**

**"You already admitted it, Perce," Grover said.**

**Percy looked a bit bothered that a goat had given him a nickname when they just met.**

I could start at any point in my short miserable life

**"Short?" Percy said apprehensively. "Why is my life short?"**

**"You're probably just being dramatic," Poseidon reassured.**

**Percy didn't look reassured, though.**

to prove it, but things really started going bad last  
May, when our sixth-grade

**"I'm in middle school!" Percy said, perking up.**

**Everyone just rolled their eyes.**

class took a field trip to Manhattan— twenty-eight mental-case kids and two  
teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek  
and Roman stuff.

**"Ooh," Annabeth said. "That sounds fun."**

I know—it sounds like torture.

**Everyone laughed at the obvious difference between the two demigods.**

**"How do you not like hearing about your own history, Idiot?" Annabeth said, feeling a bit offended.**

**Percy glowered. "Stop calling me that."**

**"Why? Does it bother you?" Annabeth said.**

**Percy narrowed his eyes. "No, Idiot, it doesn't bother me, that is exactly why I'm telling you to stop."**

**Annabeth flushed in anger and jumped to her feet, a bronze knife in her hands. "**_**What**_** did you just call me, Brain Boy?"**

**Percy looked uneasily at the knife but puffed out his thin chest. "I called you an idiot. Got a problem?"**

**Annabeth jumped forward, her knife raised, but someone jumped in between them before either could do harm. Annabeth looked up, startled, to see Reyna standing there.**

**"What are you protecting him for?" Annabeth demanded.**

**"You **_**did**_** call him an idiot first," Reyna said stubbornly.**

**Annabeth, seeing that Reyna had no way to defend herself and neither did Percy, knew that she could take them both down; but something about those sea green eyes staring at her made her not want to harm him. . . much. So she tucked her knife back in her belt and sat on the floor, her arms crossed so tightly it looked as though she wouldn't be able to untangle them.**

**Unaware to either of them, the gods were staring at them with interest.**

**Athena, because she wondered why her daughter had backed down from such an easy fight, Aphrodite because she **_**knew **_**why she had backed down from the evil fight, and Ares because he couldn't believe that **_**anyone**_** would back down from a fight.**

Most Yancy field trips were.  
But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.  
Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy  
beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but  
he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class.

**"Sounds like Chiron," Annabeth said.**

**"Chiron? Like in the myths?" Percy said and everyone faced palmed. "What did I say?"**

He also had this awesome collection of Roman  
armor and weapons,

**"They are Greek," Annabeth said coolly. "Don't you know anything?"**

**"What do you mean they're Greek?" Jason said. "The Greeks died off. It's just Romans now."**

**Annabeth and Grover stared at Jason. "No," Grover said carefully. "The **_**Romans**_** died off. It's just Greeks."**

**"You two actually think the **_**greacus**_** could have survived this long?" Reyna laughed. "No, they were intelligent but they didn't know how to survive."**

**Annabeth was going red with anger. "Are you sure you're a Halfblood? Or are you just confused?"**

**The gods and Percy were watching like it was a tennis match.**

**"It is **_**you**_** that is confused," Reyna said. "I know everyone in the camp and you aren't one of the campers. How did you survive?"**

**"By staying in camp," Annabeth said. "Camp Halfblood. There is no other camp."**

**"The camp I heard of Camp Jupiter," Reyna said quietly. "Do you think . . . that we both could have survived?"**

**Annabeth and Reyna looked at the gods, who all nodded.**

**"Well, I have to say that I'm surprised," Annabeth said. "I never knew Romans were smart enough to survive. Personally, I thought they were a bit thick."**

**Before Reyna could reply, Annabeth read on.**

so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.

**"You fall asleep in class?" Athena demanded at Percy. If Annabeth was part of his future, she hoped it wasn't because they were friends.**

**"Are you going to interrupt **_**EVERY SECOND**_**?" Zeus demanded.**

I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.  
Boy, was I wrong.

**Percy sighed, he was always wrong.**

See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the  
Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school  
bus, but of course I got expelled anyway. And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a  
behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and  
our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that... Well, you get the idea.

**By the end of that, everyone was laughing.**

**"It's not funny," Percy glowered. "I've been expelled for each of those things."**

**"Most demigods get expelled a lot of times, Percy," Grover said, "might as well just laugh it off."**

**Percy didn't respond and glowered at the floor. Grover wouldn't be laughing if he had seen his mother's disappointed expression when he came home those days.**

This trip, I was determined to be good.  
All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting  
my best friend Grover

**"You're my best friend?" Percy said, staring at Grover.**

**"In the future, at least," Grover said, smiling.**

**"You're my best friend and that redheaded girl is hitting you?" Percy said doubtfully. Normally, he would have decked the girl right then and there.**

in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.

**"That is disgusting," Aphrodite wrinkled her nose prettily.**

**Percy, who hadn't noticed her before, stared at her in amazement and awe. She was the very definition of beautiful. Her appearance kept changing, though, from brown hair to gold hair to blue eyes to violet eyes - one time he swore she looked like that supermodel he had seen on the television once.**

**The gods were laughing at the love-struck expression on Percy's face, Ares the loudest. Even Reyna was laughing. The ones who weren't laughing were Grover, Jason, and Annabeth.**

**Grover and Jason because they were too busy looking away from Aphrodite, not wanting to look stupid, too. Annabeth because she found this seriously annoying and felt the urge to punch Percy right there.**

Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held  
back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his  
chin. On top of all that, he was crippled.

**"Geez, Perce, tell me how you feel," Grover mumbled, but Percy was too dazed out to hear.**

**Aphrodite was finding this extremely flattering and was soaking up all the attention.**

He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life  
because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but  
don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.

**"Way to blow your cover, Grover," Annabeth said.**

**Grover blushed.**

**"Wait, cover?" Reyna said curiously. "What cover would a faun have?"**

**"I'm a junior protector," Grover explained. "I take care of demigods I find and lead them to camp."**

**Reyna looked at Jason and knew he was thinking the same thing. That fauns having jobs weren't a good idea, they were clumsy and got easily distracted - it would be a disaster.**

Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she  
knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation.

**"Probation?" Ares said. "Good job, kid."**

**Percy didn't reply, Aphrodite was momentarily turning into that actress he had a crush on since third grade. . .**

**Annabeth glowered as she read.**

The headmaster had  
threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly  
entertaining happened on this trip.  
"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.  
Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter."

**"When it's on your head?" Jason said, raising one eyebrow.**

**Grover looked at the floor.**

He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.  
"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.  
"You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."  
Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension  
would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.

**Poseidon looked worried, something Athena and Aphrodite caught.**

Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.  
He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and  
glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.  
It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.

**"Longer than that, Brain Boy," Annabeth muttered.**

He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone col-umn with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling  
us how it was a grave marker, astele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides.  
I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of inter-esting, but everybody around me  
was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give  
me the evil eye.

**"You think she's the one that gets vaporized?" Reyna asked Jason.**

**"She could be," Jason said.**

Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher

**"I think she's the one that gets vaporized," Poseidon said.**

**Everyone rolled their eyes, already having figured that out.**

from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even  
though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker.

**"I like her," Ares noted. "She's got spunk."**

**Aphrodite glowered at Ares. "**_**Excuse**_** me?"**

**Ares looked at Aphrodite. "I don't actually mean **_**like**_** like her! She's fifty years old."**

**"And you are many years older," Poseidon pointed out.**

**"Now do you want to join my hunt, Aphrodite?" Artemis asked. "See you that man treats you?"**

**"He is only one man," Aphrodite said coolly, though she was looking at Ares. "There are many other fish in the sea - and one of them is staring at me right now."**

**Poseidon looked taken aback at his son being called a 'fish', but then what she was implying sunk into his head. "Aphrodite! He's eleven!"**

**"I can wait a couple of years," Aphrodite shrugged, making both Annabeth and Ares clench their fists. "He looks like he's going to be very handsome."**

**Annabeth snapped the book closed and hit Percy over the head with it, and he shook his head, as though coming out of a trance and rubbed the back of his head absently.**

**"Ow."**

**"Are you going to listen or are you going to ogle a goddess again?" Annabeth spat.**

**Percy had the grace to look embarrassed and nodded.**

She had  
come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.  
From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point  
her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school  
detention for a month.

**"I don't think I'm looking forward to being a middle schooler anymore," Percy sighed.**

One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I  
didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real seri-ous, and said, "You're absolutely right."

**"Again, Grover," Annabeth said disapprovingly. "Does your cover not matter to you at all?"**

**Grover looked down, ashamed.**

Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.  
Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and  
said, "Will you shut up ?"  
It came out louder than I meant it to.

**"Good, make a scene then start the fight," Ares said. "It's more fun with an audience."**

**Percy stared. He knew what kind of guy Ares was, he was the kind of guy Percy wanted to hit every day at school. A bully. So praise from him didn't make him feel good.**

The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.  
"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"  
My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir."  
Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture  
represents?"

**"That's not fair," Percy protested. "It wasn't my fault."**

**"All he's going to make you do is answer a question, Brain Boy," Annabeth rolled his eyes.**

_**A question I probably won't know the answer to**_**, Percy thought.**

I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it.

_**Few**_**, Percy sighed.**

"That's Kronos eating  
his kids, right?"  
"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because ..."  
"Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and—"

**Everyone rolled their eyes, even Grover.**

"God?" Mr. Brunner asked.  
"Titan," I corrected myself. "And ... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate  
them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead.

**"Mother always did like me best," Zeus said proudly.**

**"Yeah. . ." Poseidon said. "That . . . or you were the only one who could pass off as a rock."**

**All of the gods laughed except Zeus. The demigods would have laughed but they felt Zeus would blast them on the spot.**

And later, when Zeus  
grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters—"  
"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.

**"You weren't the one who had to live it," Poseidon said grimly.**

"—and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."

**"One of the biggest wars in the world and you managed to sum it up in a couple of sentences," Athena said.**

**"There isn't a shorter way to say it," Percy said defensively.**

Some snickers from the group.

**"Why?" Jason said. "You got it right."**

**Percy just shrugged.**

Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going  
to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"  
"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this  
matter in real life?"

**"Busted," Grover laughed.**

"Busted," Grover muttered.

**"He doesn't change much," Reyna noted.**

"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.  
At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything  
wrong. He had radar ears.  
I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."  
"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed.

**"What did he want me to say?" Percy protested, "'oh, this is important because my Dad is a god - and, no, before you ask, I **_**don't**_** know who he is.'"**

**Poseidon frowned.**

**"He wanted to see if you were smart enough to figure out why monsters are chasing you so much," Annabeth explained, knowing he was Chiron already. "Obviously, you're not."**

"Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos  
a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being  
immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods  
defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the  
darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us  
back outside?"

**"I love how he just throws that information around so casually," Zeus growled. "It was torture."**

**"Chiron just knows if he says it too seriously the Mortals would think that he was insane," Annabeth defended.**

**"Who's Chiron?" Percy said.**

**"Not now, Brain Boy."**

The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like  
doo-fuses.

**"What's new?" Artemis drawled.**

Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."  
I knew that was coming.  
I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"  
Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go— intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand  
years old and had seen everything.

**"That's because he has," Annabeth muttered.**

"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me.  
"About the Titans?"  
"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."  
"Oh."

**"Words to live by," Athena scoffed.**

"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept  
only the best from you, Percy Jackson."  
I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.  
I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and  
shouted: "What ho!'" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every  
Greek and Roman per-son who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But  
Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and  
attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C— in my life.

**"You've **_**got**_** to be kidding me," Athena said. "If your father is a god then he must be the god of the dimwits! Nothing above a C. . ."**

**Poseidon glowered but Percy didn't seem too offended by this.**

No—he didn't expect me to be as  
good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell  
them correctly.  
I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like  
he'd been at this girl's funeral.

**"He has," Annabeth said. Percy looked at her weirdly.**

He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.  
The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth  
Avenue.  
Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured  
maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been  
weird since Christmas.

**"It's not global warming, Percy," Poseidon said. "It's Zeus having another tantrum."**

**Zeus glared.**

We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, and wild fires from lightning strikes. I  
wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.

**"So it's not only Zeus having tantrums," Artemis said. "You are too, Poseidon."**

**"I wonder what for," Poseidon wondered.**

**"Haven't you read the title?" Athena demanded. "The lightning thief? Obviously, someone stole Zeus' lightning bolt and Zeus blames Poseidon - so they are both fighting."**

**"I can't steal his power," Poseidon said.**

**"Then Zeus must think you got a kid to do it," Athena watched Poseidon's expression carefully. "One of **_**your**_** kids, Poseidon."**

**Poseidon stared at her, his expression as unreadable as an ocean. "I don't have kids, Athena. I made a vow on the River Styx, remember?"**

**Athena wasn't convinced.**

Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers.

**Grover looked indignant.**

Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse,

**Everyone looked, almost unconsciously, to the empty throne of Hermes.**

**"Do you think it's his daughter?" Grover said.**

**Everyone shrugged, not knowing.**

and, of course, Mrs. Dodds  
wasn't seeing a thing.  
Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did  
that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school—the school for loser freaks who couldn't  
make it elsewhere.

**Annabeth frowned. "You say it as though you're sad."**

**Percy glared at her, his green eyes roaring. "Am I supposed to be **_**proud**_** that I'm dyslexic, ADHD, and a freak?"**

**Jason looked upset. "Most demigods are dyslexic and ADHD, but we're not freaks."**

**"Could have fooled me," Percy grumbled. "How is it that we're the only ones who can see the monsters? We see a thing others don't, that's pretty freaky."**

**"It's the Mist," Poseidon explained, feeling a bit sorry for his son. "It makes the Mortals see what they want to see."**

**"Well, what about the demigods?" Percy asked.**

**"Demigods are half god," Poseidon said. "They can't always be fooled by the Mist. Don't worry, Percy, you feel out of place now, but soon you'll feel as though you always belonged."**

**Poseidon smiled his eye crinkling smile, and Percy smiled back, warming up to this god. Everyone watched with silent amazement (everyone except Athena and Aphrodite, because they already guessed). How could a god and a demigod get along so well, as though they knew each other from way before sitting in this throne room?**

"Detention?" Grover asked.  
"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean—I'm not a genius."

**"People don't get pressured because they're geniuses," Athena said. "They get pressured because their mentor sees that this person **_**wants**_** to know more."**

**"Still," Percy said. "He doesn't have to expect so much from me."**

**"It's hard to live up to expectations," Annabeth said. "Everyone expects me to be a dumb blond, but I proved them wrong - it took work, though. Maybe you should work harder too."**

**Percy looked at her, but he couldn't imagine anyone looking at her like she was a dumb blonde, those grey eyes held too much knowledge to be ignored.**

Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep  
philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"

**Annabeth smiled. "Really Grover?"**

**Grover blushed. "This didn't happen yet, you can't laugh."**

**Despite that, everyone was laughing.**

I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.  
I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a  
little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a  
taxi and head home.

**Poseidon thought of all the times he wished he could just go and visit Sally, and felt sympathy for the boy. Aphrodite was smiling giddily over at him.**

She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me  
right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I  
was probably going to be kicked out again.

**"I'm sure she'd have more faith in you," Poseidon said.**

**"Sixth times suspended," Percy reminded him gloomily, something no eleven year old should feel. "I think she gave up on me a long time ago - she's just good at showing it."**

I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.

**Much like Percy couldn't stand the sad looks he was receiving now.**

Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a  
paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized  
cafe table.  
I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly  
friends—I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists—and dumped her half-eaten lunch in  
Grover's lap.

**Annabeth's hand tightened around the hilt of her dagger and she wished she could go to Nancy now and show her that she should watch who she messed with; because Grover wasn't someone she was allowed to pick on.**

**"It's okay, Annabeth," Grover said, looking a bit embarrassed. "I don't care, really."**

**Annabeth huffed but looked calmer.**

"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had  
spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.

**"She can cover that up with an invention my last lover made," Aphrodite said, ignoring the furious look Ares sent her. "It covers up any ugly blemishes on your face - **_**including**_** orange freckles."**

**"Well," Percy said, being careful not to look at Aphrodite. "When I meet Nancy, I'll be sure to inform her about that."**

I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your  
temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.

**"So he's a son of some kind of water god," Ares said. "I wonder which one."**

I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain,  
screaming, "Percy pushed me!"

**Reyna sent Percy a disapproving look. "If your demigod powers are hooked to your emotions, you need to learn how to control them - or you can really hurt somebody."**

**"Like Nancy Bobofit, perhaps?" Percy asked.**

**"You **_**do**_** know you are going to be on probation in about a year, right? If Nancy informs the principle - she won't be the only one getting hurt."**

Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.  
Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see—"  
"—the water—"  
"—like it grabbed her—"

**"You sound powerful," Zeus said suspiciously. Most children of the water gods are good with canoeing, but they weren't able to make water grab their enemies and pull them into fountains. Zeus sent his brother a suspicious glance.**

I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.  
As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the  
museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a tri-umphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd  
done something she'd been waiting for all semester.

**"She probably was," Annabeth murmured, trying to figure it out.**

**"Why would a monster disguise itself?" Jason demanded. "Why was it watching Percy?"**

**"Why did it call itself **_**Mrs.**_** Dodds - does she have to be married?" Percy said.**

**Everyone sent him looks, as though they were concerned he might had gone a bit dumb.**

"Now, honey—"

**"That 'honey' thing sounds annoying," Grover grumbled, not looking forward to Yancy Academy.**

**"It probably is," Percy said, having similar thoughts.**

"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."  
That wasn't the right thing to say.  
"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.

**"Do something, Grover," Poseidon said worriedly.**

**Grover looked terrified, but there was a determined expression on his face.**

"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."

**"That's brave," Annabeth told him.**

**Grover smiled with hesitant pride.**

I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to  
death.

**"It's not really bravery if you're not scared of it in the first place," Annabeth said when she saw Grover's smile waver.**

She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.  
"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.  
"But—"  
"You—will—stay—here."  
Grover looked at me desperately.

**"What did you expect him to do?" Poseidon said, annoyed that the satyr didn't protect his son.**

**Grover shrugged. "Maybe I thought that Percy would get that something was up, and that he would be on his guard."**

**"It was a smart thought," Reyna said slowly. "But you should have given a hint."**

**"Forget hints," Jason said. "You guys should have told him way before this - it's dangerous to just find out at twelve - that's when the monsters start to **_**really**_** attack."**

"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."  
"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me."Now ."

_**Okay**_**, Grover thought, **_**that honey thing it **_**too **_**annoying**_**.**

Nancy Bobofit smirked.  
I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.

**"Oh, really?" Annabeth raised one eyebrow. "And what does that look like?"**

**Percy glared at her.**

**"Oh, I'm scared. Look, I'm shivering."**

**"Shut up."**

Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there.  
She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to  
come on.  
How'd she get there so fast?

**"Monster speed," Annabeth mumbled.**

I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've  
missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind  
it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.  
I wasn't so sure.

**"Listen to your instincts," Jason said. "That's what Lupa told me. Demigods always have good instincts."**

**"Who is Lupa?" Percy said.**

**"A she-wolf that taught me how to be vicious."**

**"Oh. . ."**

I went after Mrs. Dodds.  
Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and  
Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in  
his novel.

**"I'm going to have to talk to Chiron," Poseidon mumbled so no one would hear him.**

I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of  
the entrance hall.  
Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.

**"Don't do that," Annabeth snapped.**

**"What?" said Percy, startled.**

**"Don't think like a Mortal," Annabeth rephrased. "They always try to make sense of what they see. Don't do that. That's what gets you killed."**

**"Good to know," Percy said.**

But apparently that wasn't the plan.  
I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and  
Roman section.  
Except for us, the gallery was empty.  
Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was  
making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.  
Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher,

**"How so?" Athena said.**

**Percy just shrugged. "I don't know . . . it just is."**

especially Mrs.  
Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it...

**All the gods narrowed their eyes dangerously. "She better not," Zeus growled.**

**Percy had a weird image of Mrs. Dodds randomly attacking it as he stood there, confused, and had to suppress a smile.**

"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.

**Not only did Grover groan, but everyone else did too - including the gods.**

**"Let the action begin already," Ares ordered.**

I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."  
She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"  
The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.

**Percy became wary.**

She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.

**"She's not a teacher, Brain Boy," Annabeth said. "So, technically, she's going to hurt you."**

**"Thanks for the reassurance," Percy snapped.**

**"Hey, you two," Grover said. "Stop fighting."**

**"She's starting it!" Percy said, furious.**

**"Well, stop thinking such stupid things!" Annabeth huffed.**

**"Okay, next time we read books about me I'll be sure to think intelligent, **_**boring**_**, things - just like you!"**

**Aphrodite could just feel the love in the air.**

I said, "I'll—I'll try harder, ma'am."  
Thunder shook the building.  
"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you  
out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."  
I didn't know what she was talking about.

All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of  
my dorm room.

**Annabeth wasn't the only one who face-palmed. By the end of that sentence, half the people in the room had red marks on their foreheads.**

Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever  
reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make  
me read the book.

**Athena signed loudly. "If we are all part of this boy's future, gods help us all."**

**"Can gods help gods when gods pray to them?" Percy said.**

**Everyone looked at him weirdly.**

"Well?" she demanded.  
"Ma'am, I don't..."  
"Your time is up," she hissed.  
Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched,  
turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled  
hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.

**"A fury," Poseidon muttered.**

**"Hades," Athena said. "So, not only does Zeus want to kill Percy, but so does Hades. Someone must have angered the gods."**

**Everyone was staring at Poseidon, who ignored them.**

Then things got even stranger.  
Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway  
of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.  
"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.  
Mrs. Dodds lunged at me.  
With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the  
air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword—Mr. Brunner's bronze sword,  
which he always used on tournament day.

**"He uses a real sword in a class full of delinquents?" Athena said.**

**"Chiron wouldn't let them hurt themselves," Annabeth reassured her mother.**

Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.  
My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.

**"Come on, Punk!" Ares yelled. "Man up! Kick some Fury butt!"**

**Percy glared.**

She snarled, "Die, honey!"

**"I see she's not getting rid of that any time soon," Grover said. "I hope I will never have to meet her."**

And she flew straight at me.  
Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.

**"Natural?" Annabeth said. "Hmm. . . If I didn't know any better, I would say you've fought a monster before."**

**"I haven't." Percy said. "I would have remembered it."**

**"Not if your Mom told you it was a dream or something," Annabeth pointed out. "You must have fought monsters before this Fury."**

**"Well isn't my life fool of happiness?" Percy said drily.**

The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. Hisss!  
Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot,  
leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two  
glowing red eyes were still watching me.

**"Creepy," Grover muttered.**

I was alone.  
There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.

**"You're still letting the mist affect you?" Athena snapped. "Your ignorance is going to get you killed."**

Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.  
My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or  
some-thing.

**"I know! I know!" Percy said when Annabeth opened her mouth. "I'm thinking like a Mortal - sorry!"**

**Annabeth shut her mouth.**

Had I imagined the whole thing?  
I went back outside.  
It had started to rain.  
Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing  
there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I  
hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."  
I said, "Who?"

**"The teacher everyone thinks was there," Reyna explained. "The Mist manipulated them."**

**"Oh," Percy said.**

"Ourteacher. Duh!"  
I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.  
She just rolled her eyes and turned away.  
I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.  
He said, "Who?"  
But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.

**"You're a bad liar," Zeus grumbled. "You should learn. Lying is important."**

**"My Mom would scold you for saying something like that," Percy said, "a god or not."**

**Zeus looked affronted, but Poseidon and Ares were smiling. "I like her," Ares said. "It sounds like she's got spunk."**

**Poseidon's smile turned to a glower as he turned to Ares.**

"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."  
Thunder boomed overhead.  
I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved.  
I went over to him.  
He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the  
future, Mr. Jackson."  
I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.  
"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"  
He stared at me blankly. "Who?"

**"Sounds like a good liar," Jason said.**

**"He is a good liar," Annabeth nodded. "I'd seen him lie before - to everyone but me."**

**"Why wouldn't he lie to you?" Percy said.**

**"Because we've known each other since I was seven," Annabeth replied. "He's like a father to me."**

**"What about your real father?"**

**Annabeth gave him a chilling look. "That's none of your business, Brain Boy."**

**Athena looked down at her lap, wondering how she could have been as stupid as to loving a man who didn't accept their world. Now her daughter had grew up unloved.**

"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."  
He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As  
far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"

**"Now I'm just going to think I'm crazy," Percy said.**

**"That's it," Annabeth said, snapping the book shut. "I don't know about you guys, but I can really use a lunch break."**

**Everyone chorused an agreement.**


	2. The Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death

**"Who wants to read next?" Annabeth said, holding up the book. No one answered. "What about you, Brain Boy?"**

**Percy looked embarrassed. "Dyslexia, remember?"**

"**It's in Greek," Annabeth's eyes softened. "You'll be able to read it, trust me."**

**Percy was about to say that he had no reason to trust her, because she had been making fun of im the whole time and even hit him over the head with a book for looking at a goddess; but for some reason he felt he could really trust this blond haired girl, so he took the book.**

**He was surprised that he understood it.**

THREE OLD LADIES KNIT  
THE SOCKS OF DEATH

"**Let me guess," Percy said drily. "These three old ladies will be monsters."**

"**Most likely," everyone replied.**

I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This  
twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle.

"**You'll have to get used to it, kid," Ares said. "That's your life from now on."**

**Percy couldn't help but think, **_**that has always been my life, fighting my way to survive – against Smelly Gabe, bullies, and unfair teachers**_**.**

For the rest of the school year, the entire  
campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me.

"**I doubt they would have held the trick for that long," Athena said. "Those are impulsive kids, if you remember."**

"**It's easier then believing monsters are after me," Percy shrugged.**

The students acted as if they were completely  
and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr—a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got  
on our bus at the end of the field trip—had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.  
Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up,  
but they would stare at me like I was psycho.

"**Why don't you just give up?" Jason said. "It's obvious they have no idea what you're talking about."**

**Percy jutted out his chin and cross his arms. "I want answers."**

"**You disintegrated your teacher so they picked a new one," Reyna said. "Is that an answer enough?"**

**Percy decided not to answer.**

It got so I almost believed them—Mrs. Dodds had never existed.  
Almost.

"**You're stubborn," Reyna said. "That's very Roman of you."**

**Annabeth glared. "He's not Roman, he's Greek."**

"**No one said he couldn't be both," Reyna smiled at Percy, who wasn't sure which side to take.**

But Grover couldn't fool me.

**Grover blushed. "Well, I'm sorry if I can't lie to my best friend."**

**Percy smiled. "No one's saying anything, man."**

**But everyone had thought something.**

When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim  
she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying.  
Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum.

"**Why are you saying something?" Ares said. "You know what happened; you're the one that caused it. It's bad to forget a battle, kid; you have to remember everything about it – even everyone you killed."**

"**Why?" Percy said.**

"**It's respect," Ares shrugged. "You have to respect the people who have enough guts to face you down in a war."**

I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons  
and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.

"**Those dreams suck," Jason said sympathetically. "I keep having dreams about my sister – the look on her face before I was taken away."**

"**What happened?" Percy asked.**

"**I don't really want to talk about it," Jason said.**

The freak weather continued,

"**Freak weather," Artemis mused, "created by two freak gods."**

**Zeus and Poseidon glared.**

which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the  
windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley  
touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social  
studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic  
that year.

"**You two have to stop," Athena said. "Or you'll kill the whole Mortal population."**

"**I won't stop until I get my bolt," Zeus growled.**

"**You have your bolt," Poseidon said, "now, at least. Maybe you should watch over it more closely – my trident was stolen."**

I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time.

"**It's like your emotions are linked to the weather," Athena said, narrowing her eyes at Poseidon. "Poseidon, when are you going to admit to your wrongdoing?"**

"**When there is actually evidence that I actually did a wrongdoing," Poseidon snapped.**

"**The evidence is in this room," Athena hissed. "And you know it."**

**Everyone but Aphrodite wondered what they were all talking about – they had all wondered, but little Percy couldn't be Poseidon's son.**

My grades slipped from Ds to Fs. I got into more  
fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.  
Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to  
study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it  
sounded good.

"**It means old drunk," Athena said. "Where did you even hear that?"**

**Percy shrugged, sometime she said words that sounded like words, but he never actually heard them.**

The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back  
next year to Yancy Academy.

"**Expelled," Percy said dramatically. "Didn't see that one coming."**

**Everyone was too sympathetic to laugh.**

Fine, I told myself. Just fine.  
I was homesick.

"**Has it ever occurred to you that it isn't about you?" Artemis snapped. "Do you think your mother wants to have to send you to schools farther and farther away just because you're too selfish to behave?"**

**Percy looked at the ground. He had thought it, but at the end his homesickness took over.**

"**Artemis," Poseidon snapped. "Don't be cruel. Lots of demigods get expelled."**

"**Because they accidentally tear apart a locker room to kill a monster," Artemis said. "Not because they purposely get expelled so they could bother their moms."**

I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public  
school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.

**Annabeth frowned, remembering her stepmother and her cruel ways, and wondering if she had something in common with her Brain Boy.**

_**Her Brain Boy**_**? Annabeth shook her head, she was becoming possessive – she only became possessive of her friends, Percy wasn't her friend… was he?**

And yet... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the  
Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend,

**Grover couldn't help but smile. "Thanks, man."**

even if  
he was a little strange.

"**Gee," Grover frowned. "**_**Thanks**_**."**

"**Sorry, man," Percy said.**

I worried how he'd survive next year without me.  
I'd miss Latin class, too—Mr. Brunner's crazy tourna-ment days and his faith that I could do well.

**Percy wondered what it was like to have a teacher who had faith in you.**

As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I stud-ied for. I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had  
told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.

"**Maybe because it's true, Brain Boy," Annabeth said.**

"**Will you stop calling me that?" Percy said, annoyed.**

"**No, it's funny," Annabeth said.**

The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology  
across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing  
one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards.

**Annabeth remembered all the books she had thrown across the room when she was little for the exact same things, and couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Percy. She laced her hand on his and said, "It's okay, most demigods go through that, it doesn't make you different – it just makes you one of us."**

**Percy couldn't help but feel a bit better, but he felt nervous with Annabeth's hand on his, so he carefully slid it from away from hers.**

**Annabeth was surprised at how much this bothered her.**

There was no way I was going to remember the  
difference between Chiron and Charon,

"**Chiron trains heroes," Annabeth said. "Charon sends the dead to the underworld."**

or Polydictes and Polydeuces.

"**Why aren't you explaining this?" Percy asked.**

"**It doesn't really matter," Annabeth shrugged. "But if you call Chiron 'Charon', he'll probably flip… and vice versa, I suppose – but you won't be meeting Charon any time soon, I hope."**

And conjugating those Latin  
verbs? Forget it.

"**Latin comes naturally to me," Jason said.**

"**How?" Percy asked.**

"**I don't know," Jason said truthfully. "Maybe the same way Greek comes naturally to you?"**

"**Maybe."**

I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.  
I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best  
from you, Percy Jackson.  
I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.

"**That's good," Athena said. "Keep trying."**

**Annabeth wondered if her mother had encouraged her when she watched over her. Annabeth didn't know why, but she felt like she did. Athena smiled at her, almost as though she had heard her thoughts.**

I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some  
pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam.

"**Confidence is good, you know," Ares said. "You can't walk into war thinking you'll loose."**

"**Is everything about war to you?" Aphrodite said.**

"**You know you love it," Ares retorted.**

**Aphrodite didn't admit to it, but turned to Percy, who made the mistake of looking at her again and watched in interest as her once straight dark brown hair turned into blonde curls, and her stormy blue eyes turned grey.**

"**Whoa," Percy said. "You look almost exactly like. . ."**

**But he didn't even finish his sentence before Aphrodite's appearance shifted, turning into a dark haired teacher Percy always felt jittery around.**

**Aphrodite smile, almost as though she knew what he had been about to say, and said, "Like Ares said, you need confidence – especially when it comes to love."**

**Percy pinched his arm so heard his eyes stung, he couldn't start drooling – at least, not now. He needed to read.**

I didn't want to  
leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.  
I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door  
was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.  
I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a  
question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said "... worried about Percy, sir."

"**They should have been more careful," Athena frowned.**

**Everyone was thinking the same.**

I froze.  
I'm not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking  
about you to an adult.

**Annabeth shrugged. "Hey, if they won't tell you personally then you might as well listen to them in secret – it is, after all, the only way you'll get information out of them."**

**Percy made sure to keep that in his head the next time he was scolded for eavesdropping.**

I inched closer.  
"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school ! Now that we know for  
sure, and they know too—"  
"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature  
more."

"**You'll be waiting a long time," Artemis said. "Boys don't mature fast."**

"**Hey!" all the boys said loudly as all the girls smirked.**

"But he may not have time. The summer solstice dead-line— "  
"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."  
"Sir, he saw her... ."  
"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince  
him of that."  
"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that  
would mean."

**Grover felt a lump rise in his throat. He couldn't fail his duties – he had to be the one to find Pan, he **_**had**_** to. Annabeth put a hand on his shoulder, "you didn't fail, Grover," she said. "You brought two Halfbloods to camp, the other didn't want to come."**

**Grover wiped the tears that spilled down his eyes. Zeus watched, remembering his daughter's thoughts when she faced the monsters and feeling anger. But his daughter wasn't here for him to be angry with, so his anger directed at the satyr.**

"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now  
let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall—"

"**Alive?" Reyna smiled. "You probably just killed him right there."**

The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.  
Mr. Brunner went silent.  
My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.  
A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller  
than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.

"**Geez, Chiron," Annabeth mumbled. "I didn't know you were so reckless."**

I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.  
A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an  
animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.  
A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.  
Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right  
since the winter solstice."  
"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn ..."

"**That a demigod was listening to your conversation?" Athena arched a pretty brow. "Yes, that's exactly what happened."**

**Grover blushed. "This hasn't happened yet," he reminded everyone.**

"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."  
"Don't remind me."

"**I hate exams," Grover huffed.**

"**Don't we all," Percy agreed.**

The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.  
I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.  
Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.  
Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.

"**Well," Zeus said. "At least you're good at acting."**

**Grover beamed.**

"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"  
I didn't answer.  
"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"  
"Just... tired."  
I turned so he couldn't read my expression,

"**He's probably reading your thoughts," Annabeth said. "Satyrs can do that, you know."**

"**Oh," Percy felt unnerved but tried to act like he wasn't for Grover's sake, but then remembered he could read his emotions and sent an apologetic expression in his direction.**

and started getting ready for bed.  
I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.  
But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I  
was in some kind of danger.  
The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam,

"**Three hours?" Percy and Grover groaned.**

"**This totally sucks," Grover said.**

"**I'm going to make sure Mom doesn't send me there," Percy said.**

my eyes swimming with all the Greek  
and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.  
For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't  
seem to be the problem.  
"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best."

"**Ouch," Percy grumbled.**

His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other  
kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions  
with her lips.

"**I think she has a crush on you," Aphrodite smirked.**

"**Yeah, right," Percy rolled his eyes, as though this was silly.**

"**This is the goddess of love you're talking about, Percy Jackson," Aphrodite said. "I know stuff like this – she likes you."**

**Percy was about to say that a girl wouldn't touch him with a thirty foot pole, but he decided against it – that was too embarrassing.**

I mumbled, "Okay, sir."  
"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the  
right place for you. It was only a matter of time."

"**Double ouch," Percy said, looking at his hands.**

My eyes stung.

"**He doesn't mean to be hurtful," Annabeth said.**

"**Whatever," Percy said.**

Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he  
believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.

"**He doesn't mean that," Annabeth insisted. "He means that you belong somewhere else, he just can't say it out loud."**

"**I said whatever," Percy said, though secretly feeling much better.**

"Right," I said, trembling.  
"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Percy.  
That's noth-ing to be—"  
"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me.  
"Percy—"  
But I was already gone.  
On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.  
The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a  
hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile  
delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or  
ambassadors, or celebrities.

"**Well," Poseidon said. "Your daddy is a god, I think he outranks them."**

**Percy grinned.**

I was a nobody, from a fam-ily of nobodies.

"**Hey!" Poseidon said, offended.**

"**Why are you so offended, Poseidon?" Athena said. "Hiding something?"**

"**All gods are related," Poseidon said coolly. "You should be offended too."**

**Athena just rolled her eyes.**

They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.  
What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine  
subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.  
"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."  
They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.  
The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd  
booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had,

"**On purpose, I'm guessing?" Percy said.**

"**Most likely," Grover smiled.**

so there we were, together again,  
heading into the city.  
During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other  
passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he  
expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased.  
But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.  
Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.  
I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"

"**You're going to scare my hooves off," Grover shivered.**

"**My bad," Percy grinned.**

Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha—what do you mean?"

"**See?"**

"**Sorry."**

I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.  
Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"  
"Oh ... not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?"

"**Oh, not much," Annabeth mocked. "Just everything."**

**Percy had the grace to look embarrassed.**

He winced. "Look, Percy ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math  
teachers ..."  
"Grover—"  
"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no  
such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."

"**Grover, you're a really, really bad liar," Percy told him.**

**Grover signed. "I know."**

"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."

"**Don't change much, do you?" Reyna said.**

**Percy shrugged, looking uncomfortable.**

His ears turned pink.  
From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me  
this summer.  
The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something  
like:  
Grover Underwood  
Keeper

Half-Blood Hill  
Long Island, New York  
(800)009-0009

"What's Half—"  
"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... summer address."  
My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the  
others at Yancy.

"**What's that supposed to mean?" Grover said.**

"**Um…" Percy didn't think it would be nice to say that 'he wasn't cool enough', so he just kept reading.**

"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."  
He nodded. "Or ... or if you need me."  
"Why would I need you?"

"**That was harsh," Artemis snapped. "He was only trying to help you."**

It came out harsher than I meant it to.

**People looked at Artemis with raised eyebrows. Artemis just huffed.**  
Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect  
you."  
I stared at him.

"**Yeah, he's going to believe that," Jason said.**

**Grover blushed. "I – uh – don't really know why I said that.**

All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get  
beaten up next year without me.

**Grover looked extremely touched at this. "Really?"**

**Percy shrugged, not saying that this never happened in fear of bursting his friend's bubble.**

And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me.  
"Grover," I said, "what exactly are you protecting me from?"  
There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole  
bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs.

"**How convenient," Reyna smirked.**

The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of  
the highway.  
After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have  
to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.  
We were on a stretch of country road—no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our  
side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across  
four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.  
The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and  
apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice .There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting  
in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.

"**Three old ladies knit the socks of death," Percy said.**

**Everyone was silent, wondering what these three old ladies were.**

I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted  
one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of  
electric-blue yarn.  
All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white  
bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.  
The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.

"**The Fates," Annabeth gasped.**

**Everyone seemed to have gotten it at the same time, and they all looked at Percy. No one could think of the lively boy as dead, he was just too. . . alive.**

**Percy looked back at them, his face pale. It wasn't good to know that you might drop dead any second, and, if he was going to admit it to himself, he was scared.**

I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face.  
His nose was twitching.  
"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man—"  
"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"  
"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"

"**Not funny, Percy," Grover said, looking sick. "Not funny at all."**

"**Sorry," Percy said.**

"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."  
The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears.

"**No, Percy," Annabeth breathed, her eyes burning. "Get him out of there, Grover."**

I  
heard Grover catch his breath.  
"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."

"**Good, get him on the bus," Poseidon urged.**

"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."

"**Just listen," Percy said to himself.**

"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.  
Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could  
hear that snip across four lanes of traffic.

**Everyone shivered.**

"**So that's it?" Percy said wearily. "I can drop dead at any moment now?"**

"**The Fates aren't here, Percy," Annabeth said softly. "You haven't seen them, either, have you?"**

**Percy shook his head.**

"**Then you're fine," Annabeth said. "They haven't decided what to do with you yet."**

**Percy felt angry. "Decided what to do with me?" he demanded. "What does that mean? These Fates don't control my life – it's **_**my**_** life. **_**I**_** decide when I want to do, **_**I**_** decide how things go on."**

"**I'm afraid that's not how it works, Percy Jackson," Athena said. "Your life is in the hands of the Fates, and they decide what to do with it. You have no control."**

"**Then I decide how I'm going to die," Percy said, his face stormy. "And it's not going to be at any moment. If I'm really a demigod, I'm going to die a hero."**

**Annabeth smiled. He sounded so much lie Thalia it hurt.**

Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me  
wondering who they could possibly be for—Sasquatch or Godzilla.

"**Sasquatch," Percy mumbled. "Godzilla is too big."**

**Annabeth rolled her eyes, her recent fondness for him dissapearing. "Brain Boy."**

At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment.  
The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.

"**Again with the convenience," Reyna said.**

The passengers cheered.  
"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"  
Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.

"**It can't already be happening, can it?" Jason said incredulously.**

"**No," Percy said sternly. "I won't be going that easily. Especially before I even seen my mom."**

Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.  
"Grover?"  
"Yeah?"  
"What are you not telling me?"

"**Everything," Jason said.**

He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"  
"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like ... Mrs. Dodds, are they?"  
His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much,  
much worse than Mrs. Dodds.

"**That's because they are, man," Grover said. "I'm so, so sorry, Percy – I should have taken better care of you. I'm supposed to protect you and I'm doing a terrible job at it."**

"**You still are protecting me," Percy told him. "You haven't failed till I'm dead, Grover."**

**Grover looked better.**

He said, "Just tell me what you saw."  
"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."  
He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't.

**Everyone in the room mirrored this, even Percy, though he wasn't sure why.**  
It was something else, something almost—older.  
He said, "You saw her snip the cord."  
"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.  
"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like  
the last time."  
"What last time?"  
"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."

"**Grover, you're going to start to scare him," Annabeth warned. "Think about how I would do it."**

**Grover thought about how Annabeth would deal with a situation like that. She probably wouldn't tell Percy either, she'd probably keep quiet and think of a plan ahead of time, then a back up plan if that plan failed, then a back up plan to the back up plan. Grover's head hurt just thinking about it.**

"**Uh," Grover said. "Yeah."**

**Annabeth smiled. "Good, and do just that." **

"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"  
"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."  
This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.  
"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.  
No answer.  
"Grover—that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"

"**At least you know that," Athena said.**

He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.

"**That's it," Percy said. "Is it me or is it ironic that I got this chapter?"**

**No one answered.**

**Percy sighed. "Who wants to read next?"**

"**I will," Grover said. Percy handed him the book.**


	3. Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Pants

GROVER UNEXPECTEDLY  
LOSES HIS PANTS

"**Of course I'll get this chapter," Grover grumbled. "It only makes sense."**

**No one heard this, because they were too busy laughing – all except Percy, who looks appalled.**

"**How do you lose your pants, man?" Percy said.**

"**Satyr, remember?" Grover pointed at his goat feet. "So I have pants off a lot."**

**Percy tried not to look disturbed.**

Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal.

**Grover groaned. "It's like you're trying to get me in trouble!"**

"**Sorry," Percy said.**

"**At this rate, I'll never get my license," Grover said sadly.**

I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man,  
muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to the sixth grade?"

"**Grover," Annabeth said. "You are **_**not**_** doing this well."**

"**Sorry," Grover grumbled.**

"**But why?" Annabeth said. "You did it so much better with Thalia, Luke, and me."**

"**I'm nervous," Grover said. "This is my last chance, I…I can't fail."**

"**You won't," Annabeth assured him. "Just don't freak out the person you're supposed to be protecting.**

**Grover blushed.**

Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off  
the bus, he made me promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I  
got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.

**Percy cringed from all the glares being sent his way.**

"**Don't run away from your Protector," Poseidon said. "That's the stupidest thing you can do."**

"**I didn't know," Percy said.**

"**You knew something was up," Annabeth snapped. "And Grover said he was protecting you."**

"**Why do you even care?" Percy snapped, annoyed.**

"**Because Grover is my friend," Annabeth said. "And I don't want him in trouble, and…"**

**Percy raised one eyebrow.**

"**And you're my friend, too, Brain Boy," Annabeth snapped, and Percy wasn't imagining the blush that rose in her cheeks. "Any other stupid questions?"**

**Percy decided not to answer. Aphrodite sent a smirk in both Poseidon's and Athena's way and they both didn't look pleased that their children were interacting with each other.**

"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I told the driver.  
A word about my mother, before you meet her.  
Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world,

**Poseidon smiled, silently agreeing.**

which just proves my theory that the  
best people have the rottenest luck.

**Poseidon frowned.**

Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she  
was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high  
school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle  
got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left  
with no money, no family, and no diploma.

"**That's not fair," Grover said.**

"**Life isn't fair," Percy said.**

"**It really does suck," Artemis said. "Your mother sounds like a strong woman, she would fit well with my Huntresses."**

"**Your Huntresses?" Percy said uneasily.**

"**My Maid in Arms," Artemis said. "They Hunt with me and they live immortaly – unless they are killed in battle, which is unlikely. But they have to promise to be maidens forever – and have no interactions with any boy; father, brothers…"**

**Percy's expression turned guarded. "No way will my Mom ever agree to that."**

"**Well, it's too late, isn't it?" Artemis said. "She already had you. She's not a maiden."**

**She said it as though his Mom made a tragic accident, and Percy had to try hard not to throw the nearest thing at her.**

The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.

**Athena snorted, Aphrodite giggled, and Poseidon smiled smugly. Everyone else just stared at them.**

I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile.

"**Whoever this god is," Zeus said. "He visited his child, and that's against the law. He'll be punished."**

**Poseidon rolled his eyes.**

"**It's against the law for your godly parent to visit you?" Percy said skeptically.**

"**In his crib, yes," Poseidon explained. "But when he is thirteen or twelve, they can come to give them advice on how to get to Camp Halfblood or maybe even give them a birthday gift."**

"**But that's rare," Annabeth said. "Only the best children get the gifts. Like I got my Yankees cap."**

"**My daughter, Clarisse, got an electric spear," Ares said smugly. "She's one of my best children – she even outranks the boys, and that's saying something."**

**Percy didn't want to meet her.**

"**I blessed my daughter, Selene, with the gift of changing her appearance," Aphrodite said. "Almost like me, but less powerful."**

My  
mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad. She has no pictures.  
See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret.

"_**Very**_** secret," Athena hissed.**

"**Ooh! Forbidden love, those are the best kinds," Aphrodite said. "Oh, if only I could have had a twist in that, it would have been my best story yet!"**

"**Story?" Percy shook his head. "Forget it, I don't want to know."**

"**Oh, yes, you do," Aphrodite got a wicked glint in her now emerald green eyes. "I'm going to have fun with your love life, Percy Jackson. Maybe I can even fit in a love triangle before you die."**

"**No thanks," Percy said.**

"**Aw, how cute," Aphrodite cooed. "He thinks he has a choice."**

Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.  
Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.

"**So he is a sea god," Zeus said. "But there are plenty of sea gods. Athena, do you know?"**

**Athena smirked. "I don't think they can hide it for much longer. But I'm sure the book will tell you, Father."**

**Annabeth had connected it all too, but she was in denial, if he was the son of the sea god… well, she wasn't going to be calling him her friend for any longer.**

She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She  
never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.  
Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano,

**Percy recoiled at the name. "Urgh. I almost forgot about him."**

"**Something tells me he isn't a fun guy," Jason said.**

"**He's not," Percy said.**

who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him,

"**And that's me being generous," Percy said.**

then showed his  
true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nick-named him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's  
the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.

"**Why did your mother marry him?" Aphrodite said, wrinkling her nose.**

**Percy shrugged. He had asked himself that question twenty times a day.**

"**She's doing it to protect you, Perce," Grover said. "His smell is the only thing that can mask your demigod sent – it must be strong, because I can still smell you through all that Gabe stench."**

"**You're saying I smell like Gabe?" Percy said.**

"**Yes."**

"**Where's the nearest shower?"**

Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way  
he and I got along ... well, when I came home is a good example.

I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe  
was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans  
were strewn all over the carpet.

**Annabeth shuddered. That wasn't how her stepmother was, but the neglect for Percy was clear and she knew her stepmother neglected her too.**

Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."

"**Yes, that's how you greet him," Poseidon snapped, his hands clenched in fists.**

"Where's my mom?"  
"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"

"**He asks you for money?" Reyna said. "That is exactly the reason why Circe turned all those men into guinea pigs."**

"**Excuse me?" Percy said.**

"**Boys are idiots," Reyna said. "They're pigs. Don't get me wrong, some are great – like all the boys here – but some need to be shown at what they are… pigs."**

**Artemis smiled at her. "You want to be a Huntress, Reyna?"**

**Reyna shook her head. "My loyalty is to Circe, Lady Artemis, but thank you."**

That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?  
Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three  
hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.

"**Charming," Aphrodite sniffed, though she looked a bit excited. "But it would be fun to see if I can make him look at least a tad bit handsome… hmmm."**

**There was a flash of light and everyone felt a tingly sensation.**

"**Ah!" Artemis yelped, looking down at herself.**

**Artemis had to be the most changed out of everyone there. Instead of her silver camo Huntress pants and white t-shirt, she was wearing a silver dress with hooped earrings and her hair done in curls like a princess.**

**Everyone else was changed too, Jason being the leased changed – the only thing different was his purple shirt (purple is not in this season, dear, Aphrodite said) he had on a white t-shirt instead.**

**Percy's scruffy faded pants looked even **_**more**_** faded and his shirt even more wrinkled, in a cute way. "If you were going for scruffy, might as well make it look more fashionable," Aphrodite said, eyeing him up and down with interest, which made Annabeth want to stomp her foot in anger.**

**Annabeth was changed only a little bit too, she had on make up and her hair was done up, but her orange camp t-shirt was still with her.**

**Everyone else had on a completely different look, most of them looking very uncomfortable in it.**

"**Was this necessary?" Zeus grumbled, not liking the suit he was put in.**

"**Oh, yes, your clothes has been bothering me all day," Aphrodite said. "Everyones except Percy's and Jason's. And they look like they appreciate it."**

"**Only because all Jason got was a different colored t-shirt and Percy has always been scruffy," Grover complained, his pants were making him itchy.**

"**Hush, satyr," Aphrodite said.**

"**I'm changing," Artemis growled, and she stomped out of the room.**

**Everyone but Jason and Percy followed her.**

"**So," Percy said. "What's **_**your**_** story?"**

"**Nothing much," Jason shrugged. "I was taken away from my family when I was young and sent to Lupa the wolf, she taught me how to be a good demigod, and I found my way to camp Jupiter. I stay there to train."**

**Percy nodded, uncomfortable. He didn't know why, but something about Jason made him nervous, maybe it was the old Roman and Greek rivalry, or maybe it was a rivalry of their own…**

**Little did he know that Jason was feeling the exact same way.**

**They were both relieved when everyone walked back in, looking like their normal selves – except for Annabeth, who kept the curls.**

He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know  
why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on  
cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer. Whenever I was home, he  
expected me to provide his gambling funds.

"**Horrible man," Reyna glowered.**

**Jason put his hand on her shoulder, making her feel jittery. "Don't worry, bad things happen to bad people –he'll get what's coming to him."**

**Artemis, seeing the low blush creeping up on Reyna's cheeks, signed. She had been hoping that she had another Hunter in her hands, but a boy had taken her away.**

He called that our "guy secret." Meaning, if I told my mom,  
he would punch my lights out.

"**He's never hit you, has he?" Poseidon said dangerously.**

**Percy shook his head, "No, he knows that I would probably hit him back."**

**Everyone looked at him with rising respect.**

"I don't have any cash," I told him.  
He raised a greasy eyebrow.

"**No," Aphrodite signed. "Not even my magic make-overs can help him."**

"**That must have been hard for you to admit," Ares laughed.**

**Aphrodite glared at him. "Shut up, Ares, you remember what I said about many other fish in the sea."**

**Ares glared.**

Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've  
covered up everything else.  
"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in  
change.

"**Its weird that he's got some intelligence," Annabeth said, clearly disturbed. "I thought all the grease in his head would have killed any brain cells he had left."**

**Percy grinned.**

Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"  
Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe,"  
he said. "The kid just got here."

"**At least someone has a heart," Aphrodite said.**

"Am I right ? " Gabe repeated.  
Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.

"**Forget it, then."**

"Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you  
lose."  
"Your report card came, brain boy!"

**Annabeth recoiled so much she knocked the book out of Grover's hands.**

"**Oh, geez!" Annabeth said in horror. "I thought of the same nickname for Percy as… as **_**that**_**?"**

**Percy frowned. He had been starting to like that Annabeth thought up a nickname for him, but to think that Gabe thought up the same… well, it was much less endearing."**

**Annabeth sighed, picking up the book and handing it back to Grover. "I'm sorry, Percy. I'll think up a better one."**

"**What about just Percy?" Percy said.**

"**Nah," Annabeth said. "I'll think of something better."**

he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"  
I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's  
"study." He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the  
closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his  
nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.

"**Home sweet home," Percy signed.**

I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.  
Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds, or the sound of that old fruit  
lady's shears snipping the yarn.

"**So really, really bad," Percy informed everyone.**

But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic—how he'd made  
me promise I wouldn't go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like  
someone—something—was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing  
long, horrible talons.

"**No, you killed her," Annabeth said. "She's been sent to Tartarus for now, no need to worry.**

Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"  
She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.

**Percy blushed as all the guys smirked at him.**

"**Shut up," Percy snapped.**

"**I think it's adorable," Reyna teased. "So cute."**

"**I said shut up," Percy snapped.**

My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change color in  
the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed in with her long brown hair,  
but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me,  
none of the bad.

**Percy felt an ache in his stomach. He was really starting to miss her, he had been at school all year, and he felt the familiar want to get expelled to see her again. But Artemis' words about his selfishness made him push the want away.**

I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or  
Gabe.

"**She sounds wonderful," Annabeth said.**

"**That's because she is," Percy said back.**

"Oh, Percy." She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"  
Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate,  
licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag  
of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.

**Grover groaned. "She sounds better then wonderful – I want candy."**

We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand  
through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything  
about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing  
all right?

"**She always smothers me," Percy grumbled. "She needs to lay off, I'm not a little boy anymore."**

**Grover laughed his head off as he read the next sentence.**

I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see  
her.

**Percy was sent raised eyebrows, and he was sure that his red face could be seen a mile away.**

"**She needs to lay off, huh?" Annabeth asked.**

"**Shut up."**

From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally—how about some bean dip, huh?"

**Poseidon gritted his teeth, wishing more then anything to blast Gabe away, but knowing hecouldn't – he couldn't interfere with a demigods life, especially his own son's. There was only so many laws someone could break.**

I gritted my teeth.  
My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk  
like Gabe.  
For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't too  
down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd  
done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked  
Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself. I started  
chok-ing up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad.

"**You sound like a good liar," Zeus said. "Maybe you should teach the satyr a couple of tricks."**

**Percy smirked at the blushing satyr.**

Until that trip to the museum ...  
"What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my con-science, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did  
something scare you?"  
"No, Mom."

"**Don't lie to her," Poseidon said. "She knows, she can help you."**

"**How would you know if she knew?" Percy said, narrowing his eyes.**

**Poseidon looked at him blankly. "It's obvious, she keeps sending you away – obviously to make sure the monsters won't get close to you."**

**Percy wasn't convinced. Like everyone else, he was suspicious.**

I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I  
thought it would sound stupid.

"**Not to her," Poseidon mumbled.**

She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me.  
"I have a surprise for you," she said. "We're going to the beach."  
My eyes widened. "Montauk?"

**Poseidon smiled. He loved that place, he often visited – secretly hoping he would see Sally there some time. But she was never there.**

**Aphrodite smiled at the thought she just heard – it was so beautifully tragic. A perfect love story.**

"Three nights—same cabin."  
"When?"  
She smiled. "As soon as I get changed."  
I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said  
there wasn't enough money.  
Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"

"**She did," Percy growled. "She's just doing her best to ignore you."**

I wanted to punch him, but I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice  
to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.

"**Tough deal," Percy grumbled, but he knew he would do it.**

"I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."  
Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"

"**Of course she was serious!" Artemis snapped. "Why else would she mention it?"**

"**He's an idiot," Athena agreed. Those two almost always agreed. "Why can't there be such thing as a smelly intelligent person?"**

"**Because the world is cruel," Artemis said.**

"I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."  
"Of course he will," my mom said evenly. "Your step-father is just worried about money. That's all.  
Besides," she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for  
the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."

"**She's smart," Ares grinned. "Percy, you should introduce me to your mom sometime."**

**Percy felt anger bubble up inside him. "No way will she go out with you."**

**Ares smirked, "we'll see."**

**Aphrodite glowered. "Are you really saying this in front of me, Ares?"**

"**You've said plenty worst things in front of me," Ares said back. "I can say what I want."**

"**Not with me here," Aphrodite snapped. "If there is anything I hate more then uninteresting love stories, it's boyfriends who don't listen to me. Do you **_**really**_** want to get on my bad side, Ares?"**

**Ares, having some brains at least, kept silent.**

Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip ... it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"  
"Yes, honey," my mother said.

"**It's killing her inside to call him honey," Zeus grinned. "I just know it."**

**Percy didn't like that he said that with a grin but had enough sense not to say this to the lord of the sky.**

"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."  
"We'll be very careful."  
Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip ... And maybe if the kid  
apologizes for interrupting my poker game."

**Percy clenched his fist. "Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot," he said. "And make you sing soprano for a week."**

**Ares smirked, he was really starting to respect this kid.**

Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.

**Everyone looked at him weirdly.**

But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad.  
Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?  
"I'm sorry," I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go  
back to it right now."  
Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.

"**How can he not?" Athena said. "It was soaked in sarcasm."**

"**He's stupid," Percy said.**

"**Well, obviously."**

"Yeah, whatever," he decided.  
He went back to his game.  
"Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about... whatever you've  
forgotten to tell me, okay?"  
For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes—the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus  
ride—as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air.

"**She probably did," Poseidon said carefully. "Some Mortals can see through the Mist, I think she can too."**

**Athena rolled her eyes.**

But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to  
make Gabe his seven-layer dip.  
An hour later we were ready to leave.  
Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car.

**Artemis felt indignant. "He couldn't help? He was just a little boy."**

"**Hey!" Percy said. "I thought your Huntresses were all twelve."**

"**Most of them are twelve," Artemis corrected. "And it's different, they all have the spirit of the Huntresses in them. They have the power to carry bags to cars… sometimes, even the girls considering being a Huntress fell the spirit of the Huntress in them."**

**She caught Annabeth's eye and they both knew that they were thinking of the same person. Thalia.**

**She had considered being a Huntress, but had decided against it for Luke – but she had always been a bit stronger after she said no.**

He  
kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking—and more important, his '78 Camaro—for the  
whole weekend.  
"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy,"

**Annabeth still felt sickened by that.**

he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."

"**He won't be driving," Poseidon grumbled. "He's twelve."**

Like I'd be the one driving. I was twelve. But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped  
on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me.  
Watching him lumber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain.  
As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of  
warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. The  
screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the stair-case as if  
he'd been shot from a cannon.

"**You're powerful," Athena said.**

"**Thank you."**

"**That's not a good thing," Athena said. "More monsters get attracted to you. And if you're the son of who I think you are, then it would be safer to kill you right now."**

"**Mother, that's a bit rash, isn't it?" Annabeth said worriedly.**

"**Annabeth, you of all people should know that it is safer to plan ahead of time," Athena said warningly. "And you know who this boy's father is, too."**

**Annabeth glanced at Poseidon and seen the resemblance. The dark hair, green eyes, even the troublemaker smile. But Percy was her friend, no use denying it, and she would side with him.**

"**It's rash, nevertheless," Annabeth said shakily. "I've heard the Prophecy. He can help you."**

"**And he can be the reason we are destroyed," Athena said lowly.**

"**How about we let the Prophecy play out?" Poseidon interjected. "It's going to happen – might as well let happen sooner rather than later."**

Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I  
didn't stay long enough to find out.  
I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.  
Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with  
faded cur-tains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the  
cabinets,

**Annabeth shivered.**

and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.  
I loved the place.

**Percy smiled. "Best place ever." He agreed with his future self.**  
We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly  
said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad.  
As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing  
from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.

**One of the things that caught Poseidon's eye about her was her eyes. He always loved her eyes.**

We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We  
walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater  
taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.

"**Why is everything blue?" Zeus said, though he was pleased – that was his color after all.**

"**Uh," Percy scratched the back of his head. "My mother and Gabe fought. Gabe said there was no such thing as blue food but Mom always thought she would be able to find some. We ate blue food ever since."**

"**Oh," Zeus said.**

I guess I should explain the blue food.  
See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a  
really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. She baked blue  
birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home  
blue candy from the shop.

"**I liked the way your future-self explained it better," Annabeth informed him.**

This—along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than call-ing  
herself Mrs. Ugliano—was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious  
streak, like me.

"**Liking her more and more," Ares said loud enough for Percy to hear.**

**Percy glared at him, his eyes saying; **_**when I get enough training, I'm going to beat up up**_**.**

**Ares just grinned, welcoming the fight.**

When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about  
when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she  
wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.  
Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to  
Montauk—my father. Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always  
did, but I never got tired of hearing them.  
"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair,  
you know, and his green eyes."

**Poseidon couldn't help the warm smile appearing on his face, and the warmth filled up his insides, touching his heart.**

**Aphrodite beamed. "You have a brilliant love story, you know," she said to him quietly. "I promise to make your sons ten times as better."**

**Poseidon's smile slipped off his face.**

Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so  
proud."  
I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a  
D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years.

"**Don't say that," Poseidon said. "I'm sure he's extremely proud."**

**Aphrodite smiled knowingly.**

"How old was I?" I asked. "I mean ... when he left?"  
She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This  
cabin."

"**Kind of makes me not want to sleep in my bunk anymore," Percy said.**

**Everyone laughed.**

"But... he knew me as a baby."  
"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were  
born."

**Percy felt like he had been punched in the gut. He knew his father was a god, that he could stomach, but to know that he hadn't visited… well, that sucked, to say the least.**

I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember ... something about my father. A warm  
glow. A smile.  
I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still, I'd felt it must  
be true. Now, to be told that he'd never even seen me ...  
I felt angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not  
having the guts to marry my mom. He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.

"**I offered to treat her like a princess," Poseidon said so no one could hear. "She refused."**

"Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"  
She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.  
"I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think ... I think we'll have to do something."  
"Because you don't want me around?"

"**That's so stupid, Percy," Annabeth snapped. "Why would you even say that?"**

"**I don't know," Percy said, though he knew he had thought it many times before.**

I regretted the words as soon as they were out.  
My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I—I have to,  
honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."  
Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said—that it was best for me to leave Yancy.  
"Because I'm not normal," I said.  
"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy  
Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."  
"Safe from what?"  
She met my eyes,

"**Monsters," even as Percy said these words, he felt as though the degrees dropped in the room. Memories rushed to him, memories he would have done well without. It was even worse when Grover read these memories out loud.**

and a flood of memories came back to me—all the weird, scary things that had ever  
happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget.  
During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers  
threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under  
his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.

"**A Cyclops," Annabeth felt the hair on her arms raise. "Aurgh! If I were you, I would have killed it."**

**Percy shook his head. He had been so confused, it only made it worse when no one had listened to him, but he knew he wouldn't be able to kill that Cyclops. Something about the way he had followed him made him feel as though he was protecting him, not trying to harm him.**

Before that—a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a  
nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found  
me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler  
hands.

"**Like Heracles," Jason said.**

"**You mean Hercules?" Percy said.**

"**That's the Greek name for him," Jason nodded.**

**Percy smiled a bit, thinking he was like Hercules.**

"**But don't let that inflate your already overlarge head," Annabeth said.**

In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.  
I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum,  
about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword. But I couldn't  
make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want  
that.

"**So you are not only going to risk your life – but also your mother's life just because you want to stay at a stupid beach?" Athena said.**

"**That has to be the stupidest thing I ever heard," Artemis agreed.**

"**That beach is the only time it's just my Mom and me, no Gabe," Percy said, crossing his arms. "Of course I would want to stay."**

"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," my mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. But  
there's only one other option, Percy—the place your father wanted to send you. And I just... I just can't  
stand to do it."

"**Why?" Percy said. "She sends me to schools all the time, what's the difference between the camp."**

"**The difference is that they might not let you leave," Annabeth said. "If your dad is powerful. And if he is who I think he is… you might never see your mother again."**

**Percy didn't like the sound of this camp. He didn't think he could live without is mother.**

"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"  
"Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp."  
My head was spinning. Why would my dad—who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me  
born— talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever  
mentioned it before?  
"I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I—I couldn't send you  
to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."  
"For good? But if it's only a summer camp ..."  
She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her any more questions she  
would start to cry.

"**Mom…" Percy wished he could comfort her, but even if he was there he knew he wouldn't; that would only make her cry harder.**

That night I had a vivid dream.  
It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle,

**Everyone's eyes flew to Zeus and Poseidon.**

"**I take bet that Zeus will win," Ares said.**

"**Poseidon," Aphrodite sang. **

"**Zeus is sure to win," Athena said.**

"**I think I can beat them both," Artemis said. "But I think Poseidon is going to win."**

**Zeus glared. "You're still mad about what I did to that Hunter, aren't you?"**

"**You got her pregnant," Artemis hissed. "Of course I'm mad."**

**Zeus huffed and looked at the demigods. "Well? Who do you think will win?"**

**Reyna looked startled. "You will not be disrespected?"**

"**No," Poseidon said.**

"**Then I think Zeus will win," Reyna said.**

"**Zeus," Jason said, trying to get used to calling his dad by his Greek name.**

"**Poseidon," Percy said, and he earned a glowing smile from his dad – though he didn't know he was his dad.**

"**Zeus," Grover said, though he was more intimidated by that glare Zeus was giving him.**

**Annabeth looked at the floor, unable to decide. On one hand, Zeus was the king of all gods, but on the other hand, Poseidon was **_**very**_** powerful. "Um…" Annabeth looked up. "Zeus."**

**Athena smiled proudly.**

were trying  
to kill each other at the edge of the surf. The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its  
huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagles wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled,  
and a monstrous voice chuck-led somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.

"**Hades," Zeus growled.**

"**Or it can be someone else," Poseidon said.**

**Zeus and Poseidon had a stare down. Finally, Zeus said, "we will discuss this later, brother."**

"**Yes, we will," Poseidon agreed.**

I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion.  
I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I  
screamed, No!  
I woke with a start.

"**I won!" Zeus said, a triumphant grin on his face.**

"**The fight wasn't over yet," Percy said. "For all we know, Poseidon could have made a giant wave crash down on you."**

**Zeus glared fiercely at Percy. "And I could have electrocuted him into smithereens."**

"**I'm sure a god will have a high resistant to lightning," Percy said. "I don't know… he could have **_**drowned**_** you."**

"**I can blast you to smithereens," Zeus said.**

"**I doubt it," Percy said. "I have good reflexes, I can dodge it."**

**Annabeth had been watching with horrified fascination for a moment, but Zeus' eyes were sparkling, and she knew Percy was a second away from being blasted.**

"**Percy," Annabeth said, her voice full of warning. "Just listen to Grover to the story."**

**Percy opened his mouth to object but Annabeth's eyes were swirling with warning, so he shut himself up.**

Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was  
no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the  
dunes like artillery.  
With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."  
I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean  
seemed to have for-gotten. Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound  
that made my hair stand on end.  
Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice—someone yelling, pounding on  
our cabin door.

"**It's either pants-less Grover, or a scared hobo," Percy said.**

"**What's the difference?" Annabeth teased.**

"**Hey!"**

My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.  
Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't... he wasn't  
exactly Grover.

"**Why? What happened to me?" Grover said in worry.**

"**I'm sure you're just fine," Annabeth said, hiding her smirk. She knew exactly what was happening.**

"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"  
My mother looked at me in terror—not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.  
"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell  
me?"  
I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.  
"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" he yelled.

"**Watch your mouth," Athena said.**

"**Sorry," Grover whimpered, still frightened about what happened to him.**

"It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"  
I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I  
was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because  
Grover didn't have his pants on—and where his legs should be ... where his legs should be ...

"**Oh," Grover frowned. "Geez, Percy, it's just goat legs. You made me think there was something wrong with me."**

**Percy decided to stay silent, mostly because Annabeth was giving him a warning look then anything.**

My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: "Percy. Tell me now !"

"**She yelled at me," Percy said, the hurt unmistakable in his tone.**

"**She's scared for your life and all you're doing is staring at your friend's hairy legs," Athena said. "**_**Someone**_** has to yell at you."**

**Percy looked at his hands sadly. "But she yelled at me…"**

**Everyone rolled their eyes and turned back to Grover, who continued to read.**

I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at  
me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.  
She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. Go ! "

"**So she yelled at me **_**and**_** we're going to leave," Percy said. "That seems like the worst day ever."**

"**You'll have much worst," Annabeth said, thinking of the prophecy.**

"**Thanks for the reassurance," Percy scoffed.**

Grover ran for the Camaro—but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy  
hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I  
understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.  
Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. There were cloven hooves.

"**Way to be dramatic, Percy," Grover rolled his eyes.**

**Percy offered an embarrassed smile.**

"**Who wants to read next?" Grover said.**

"**I do," Jason said, and he was handed the book.**


	4. My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting

"**Hey, Percy, does your mom know how to bullfight?" Jason said.**

"**No. Why?" Percy said.**

**In answer, Jason read the title.**

MY MOTHER TEACHES  
ME BULLFIGHTING

"**She doesn't know how to bullfight," Percy frowned. "At least, I think she doesn't."**

"**If she does," Ares smirked. "She just got better and better."**

**Percy, Poseidon, and Aphrodite glared.**

We tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the  
wind-shield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas.

"**My kind of driving," Ares nodded his head in approval. "I wonder why she didn't catch my eye before."**

Every time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to me in the backseat and I  
wondered if I'd gone insane, or if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants.

"**That'll be an interesting fashion statement," Aphrodite said with a smile. "But I'm afraid those were out a long time ago."**

"**Good to know," Percy said, again, careful not to look at her.**

But, no, the smell  
was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo—

"**I don't smell like a petting zoo!" Grover protested.**

"**Dude," Percy said. "You kind of do."**

**Grover looked around for help but everyone was nodding in agreement.**

lanolin, like from wool. The  
smell of a wet barnyard animal.  
All I could think to say was, "So, you and my mom... know each other?"

**Annabeth smiled against her will. "Way to make it awkward, Percy."**

**Percy didn't know why, but Annabeth saying his name made him smile.**

**Aphrodite was definitely going to have fun with them.**

Graver's eyes flitted to the rearview mirror, though there were no cars behind us. "Not exactly," he said.  
"I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you."  
"Watching me?"

"**Grover, you **_**know**_** how weird that sounds, right?" Percy said.**

**Grover blushed. "Uh…"**

"Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay.

"**So you were faking being my friend?" Percy frowned.**

"**No," Grover said. "I usually have to but you seem like the kind of person I would be friends with."**

But I wasn't faking being your friend," he added  
hastily. "I am your friend."  
"Urn ... what are you, exactly?"  
"That doesn't matter right now."  
"It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey—"  
Grover let out a sharp, throaty "Blaa-ha-ha!"

**Percy laughed. "Is that a goat's bleat?"**

**Jason looked embarrassed. "Um, yeah."**

"**It sounded more like a demented laugh," Reyna said, making Jason blush harder.**

"**Can I just read?" Jason said.**

I'd heard him make that sound before, but I'd always assumed it was a nervous laugh. Now I realized it  
was more of an irritated bleat.  
"Goat!" he cried.  
"What?"  
"I'm a goat from the waist down."  
"You just said it didn't matter."

"**He has a point," Jason said.**

"**It's still insulting," Grover huffed.**

"Blaa-ha-ha! There are satyrs who would trample you under hoof for such an insult!"  
"Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like ... Mr. Brunner's myths?"  
"Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a myth, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"  
"So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!"

"**Really, Percy?" Annabeth said. "Your reactions to different things about the Greeks are just…"**

"**Ridiculous," Athena said. "You get very sidetracked."**

**Percy shrugged.**

"Of course."  
"Then why—"  
"The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract," Grover said, like that should be perfectly  
obvious.

"**That's because it is," Grover said.**

"We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination.  
But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."  
"Who I—wait a minute, what do you mean?"  
The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was  
chasing us was still on our trail.  
"Percy," my mom said, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety."  
"Safety from what? Who's after me?"

"**Monsters," Poseidon said.**

"Oh, nobody much," Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the  
Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."

"**Grover!" Annabeth said.**

"**Wait, Hades is after me?" Percy said. "Why is he after me?"**

"**I'd like to know the same thing," Poseidon said dangerously. "I thought it would be Zeus."**

"**Why Zeus?" Athena said. "Are you hiding something that he should know about?"**

**Poseidon glared at Athena. "No, Athena. Nothing that should matter to him."**

**Zeus narrowed his eyes at the both of them.**

"Grover!"  
"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"  
I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn't do it. I knew this wasn't a dream. I  
had no imagination. I could never dream up something this weird.

"**What's your weirdest dream?" Reyna said.**

**Percy shrugged.**

My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and  
wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences.  
"Where are we going?" I asked.  
"The summer camp I told you about." My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be  
scared.

**Percy frowned. His mother was a brave woman, after all, she put up with Gabe; so for her to be scared… it made Percy terrified.**

"The place your father wanted to send you."  
"The place you didn't want me to go."  
"Please, dear," my mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger."  
"Because some old ladies cut yarn."

"**Well, when you put it like that it just sounds stupid," Grover said.**

**Percy smiled. "How else am I supposed to put it?"**

"**The Fates cut your life cord," Athena said. "You shouldn't treat it as a joke, Percy Jackson."**

"Those weren't old ladies," Grover said. "Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means—the fact  
they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to ... when someone's about to die."  
"Whoa. You said 'you.'"  
"No I didn't. I said 'someone.'"  
"You meant 'you.' As in me. "  
"I meant you, like 'someone.' Not you, you. "

"**Is this really a conversation you should be having as you run away from a monster?" Athena demanded.**

"**This hasn't happened yet," Percy pointed out. "And I'm pretty sure the only thing I would be saying is 'aaaah!"**

"**So it seems you've gotten more stupid in the future," Annabeth noted.**

**Percy shot her an irritated look.**

"Boys!" my mom said.  
She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid—a dark  
fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.  
"What was that?" I asked.  
"We're almost there," my mother said, ignoring my question. "Another mile. Please. Please. Please."

**Percy leaned forward. "Yes, just another mile."**

I didn't know where there was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to  
arrive.  
Outside, nothing but rain and darkness—the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of  
Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment when she'd changed into the thing with pointed  
teeth and leathery wings. My limbs went numb from delayed shock.

"**Really, **_**really**_** delayed," Percy said.**

She really hadn't been human.  
She'd meant to kill me.

"**No, really?" Ares said.**

**Percy scowled at him.**

Then I thought about Mr. Brunner ... and the sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about  
that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom!, and our car  
exploded.

"**Zeus!" Poseidon yelled.**

**Zeus looked startled. "What?"**

"**I think Poseidon has something to tell you all," Athena said. "Something really important."**

**Poseidon glared at her. "It's not really important."**

"**Poseidon," Athena said sternly. "You must admit to your wrongdoing, or you may start a war."**

**Poseidon looked at his son, who was watching them with interest. Wrongdoing? No. That wasn't what he would call his son, but having him had been against his vow, so in a way, Percy **_**was**_** a wrongdoing. But Poseidon wouldn't regret it, not even if Percy was the one in the prophecy.**

**Suddenly, above Percy's head, appeared a hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming, a three striped spear: a trident.**

**Percy looked up, startled at first, but then realization dawned on his features. "Whoa."**

**Ares looked like he'd been smacked in the face. "So Poseidon and Sally… you sure no how to pick them."**

**Zeus didn't have the same awed reaction. "Poseidon!"**

**Poseidon was ready for this, though. "Do not forget that you broke the oath too, brother."**

"**My daughter is gone now," Zeus said. "And I admitted she was my daughter from the start – I was the one who turned her into a tree!"**

"**And you expect I turn him into a tree now, too?" Poseidon said, perplexed. "I am sorry, brother. But that won't be happening any time soon."**

"**Poseidon, you have created something that can destroy Olympus," Athena said. "That is a lot of deaths for just one boy."**

"**He can also save Olympus, Athena," Poseidon said. "Look at him. Does he look blood thirsty to you?"**

**They all looked at Percy, who looked back at them. He looked angry, mostly because they were discussing his death like he wasn't even there, but he didn't look as though he were planning on destroying anything any time soon.**

"**Never judge a book by its cover," Artemis said. "That's what all of you boys always do. You see a small girl and think she's not capable of killing someone."**

"**This isn't a matter between boys and girls, Artemis," Poseidon said. "This is a matter between life and death. This, I am sure, is far more important.**

**Percy glanced at Annabeth and Grover, who were both looking back at him, pale.**

"**You're Poseidon's son," Grover said weakly.**

"**Yeah," Percy said, though he didn't look awed anymore. He looked annoyed. He had been wondering what that wrongdoing was when Athena mentioned it, and to find out that **_**he**_** was a wrongdoing, and his father hadn't even objected to it, that hurt.**

"**Aw, man," Grover said, looking so upset tears formed in his eyes. "Now they'll never send you on a quest and I will never get my license."**

"**Sorry," Percy said, only because he didn't know what else to say.**

"**This is bad," Annabeth said. "You're Poseidon's son… I had my suspicions but… this is **_**really**_** bad."**

"**How so?" Percy said.**

"**Athena and Poseidon have this rivalry going on-"**

"**No kidding," Grover said, looking at the gods who were still arguing on whether or whether not to kill Percy.**

"**They don't work well together," Annabeth continued. "They always take opposite sides in a debate."**

"**So?" Percy said. "What does this have to do with us?"**

**Annabeth looked at Percy, his sea green eyes wide with confusion. She felt something stir inside her. "Nothing," Annabeth found herself saying. "It has nothing to do with us."**

**Grover looked in between them, and couphed to get their attention. They both blinked and looked at him. "The gods have made their decision."**

**All the demigods (and satyr) turned to the gods, all of them didn't look pleased.**

"**We have come to the decision to read how the future plays out," Zeus said. "And if Percy Jackson is the reason Olympus falls, we kill him now to save the future."**

**Poseidon looked at his son. "But if you are the reason Olympus is saved, all of us promised a reward. Am I right, brother?"**

"**Right," Zeus said. "Read on, son."**

**Jason nodded, feeling glad that Percy (who he is starting to see as a friend) was going to live… probably.**

I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time.

"**I have a feeling I'm not going to like lightning," Percy mumbled.**

I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, "Ow."  
"Percy!" my mom shouted.  
"I'm okay... ."

"**Considering I just said 'Ow'," Percy said. "I doubt I'm okay."**

"**Duh, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said.**

**Percy groaned. "Not another nickname."**

"**Yes," Annabeth smirked. "And I like this one better."**

**Percy groaned again.**

I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead. The car hadn't really exploded. We'd swerved into a ditch.  
Our driver's-side doors were wedged in the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain  
was pouring in.  
Lightning. That was the only explanation. We'd been blasted right off the road. Next to me in the  
backseat was a big motionless lump.

"**Grover!" Annabeth and Percy said.**

"**I'm here, I'm fine," Grover said, though touched by their worry.**

"Grover!"  
He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth.

**Grover winced. He didn't think he'd like lightning either.**

I shook his furry hip, thinking, No!  
Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!

"**That's sweet in a weird way," Reyna said.**

"**Uh, thanks," Percy said.**

Then he groaned "Food," and I knew there was hope.

**Everyone snorted, causing Grover to blush.**

"**You got hit by lightning and now you're dreaming about food?" Jason said.**

**Grover shrugged, getting more mortified by the minute. "My dreams tend to wander from food to nature… to food again."**

**This caused more snickering.**

"Percy," my mother said, "we have to ..." Her voice faltered.  
I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure  
lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark  
silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top  
half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.

**Top half bulky and fuzzy… huge, football player… horns… "The Minotaur!" Athena and Annabeth exclaimed at the same time.**

"**What?" Percy said weakly. "I thought that died in the labyrinth, like… a thousand years ago."**

"**Monsters always come back," Reyna said. "Sometimes they come back after many years, sometimes after many months… the real unlucky heroes see them after a couple of weeks."**

"**So we just keep re-killing monsters?" Percy said.**

"**Yes," Reyna said. "Or at least, you do. At Circe's Island, I'm safe from monsters."**

I swallowed hard. "Who is—"  
"Percy," my mother said, deadly serious. "Get out of the car."  
My mother threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine.  
Stuck too. I looked up desperately at the hole in the roof. It might've been an exit, but the edges were  
sizzling and smoking.

"**We can't get out," Grover groaned.**

"**We'll find way," Percy reassured him, tho he was a bit worried himself.**

"**You can break the window," Jason suggested.**

"**Or you can climb out the passenger side," Annabeth said.**

"**Oh, right," Percy, Grover, and Jason said, making Annabeth roll her eyes in exasperation.**

"Climb out the passenger's side!" my mother told me. "Percy—you have to run. Do you see that big  
tree?"

"**Thalia," Annabeth said.**

"**You named a tree?" Percy asked.**

"**No, that's my friend," Annabeth replied.**

"**A tree… is your friend?"**

"**Oh shut up and listen to the book, Seaweed Brain."**

"What?"  
Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge,  
White House Christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill.

**Zeus gave a wry smile. If he was going to turn his daughter into a tree, it was going to be the biggest, most noticeable tree out there.**

"That's the property line," my mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the  
valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."

"**Why is she saying it like she's not coming?" Percy said worriedly. "I'm not leaving her."**

"**She can't go through the property line," Annabeth said. "No Mortal or monster can, unless they are summoned in. But you and your mother don't know about that, and Grover is unconscious, so it'll be safer to leave her."**

"**Leave her?" Percy echoed in disbelief. "Safer for who? My mom can die!"**

"**For whom," Annabeth corrected. "And I'm really sorry about your mother, Percy, but the Minotaur isn't after her – it's after you."**

"**It doesn't matter," Percy said. "It can change its target at any moment, and its target is **_**not**_** going to be my mom."**

**Though Annabeth knew the Minotaur would ignore Sally Jackson if Percy left, she didn't say it, because despite how much Percy annoyed her – she had to admire his loyalty.**

"Mom, you're coming too."  
Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean.

**Poseidon felt guilt rise in the pit of his stomach. He shouldn't have left her and never contacted her again, he should have sent her gifts, treated her like a princess even if she refused.**

"No!" I shouted. "You are coming with me. Help me carry Grover."  
"Food!" Grover moaned, a little louder.  
The man with the blanket on his head kept coming toward us, making his grunting, snorting noises. As he  
got closer, I realized he couldn't be holding a blanket over his head, because his hands—huge meaty  
hands—were swinging at his sides. There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was too  
big to be his head ... was his head. And the points that looked like horns ...  
"He doesn't want us ," my mother told me. "He wants you. Besides, I can't cross the property line."  
"But..."  
"We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please."

"**Why doesn't she just come with me?" Percy said angrily. "We can find a way to get through the Property line. But I'm not just going to leave her."**

"**Be logical, Percy Jackson," Athena said. "There is no way she can go. She is being smart, you should listen to her."**

**Percy glared at her. "That's not logical, that's giving up. I'm not giving up on my mother."**

**Annabeth waited for him to get blasted, because no one talked to her mother that way, but even Athena had to be impressed by the boy's loyalty.**

I got mad, then—mad at my mother, at Grover the goat,

"**At Grover the **_**satyr**_**," Grover said.**

"**Does it really matter?" Reyna said.**

"**Yes," Grover said.**

at the thing with horns that was lumbering  
toward us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull.  
I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. "We're going together. Come on,  
Mom."  
"I told you—"  
"Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover."

"**I should be helping **_**you**_**," Grover sighed. "Not the other way around."**

"**Doesn't matter," Percy said. "Either way, we're both going to make it through the Property line."**

**Grover smiled gratefully, though his eyes were still sad. Once again, the person he was supposed to be protecting was protecting him.**

I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly  
light,

"**Did you expect me to be heavy?" Grover said.**

"**You're taller than me," Percy shrugged.**

"**It looks like everyone's taller then you," Ares noted.**

**Percy scowled, but it was true. Annabeth had to be a couple of inches taller than him, and Percy found that a bit intimidating.**

but I couldn't have carried him very far if my mom hadn't come to my aid.  
Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through wet  
waist-high grass.  
Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs  
like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine—bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other  
'ceps,

"**And a bunch of other 'ceps?" Aphrodite said. "Hmm."**

**Ares'expression went stony as he flexed his muscles and Aphrodite paid no mind to it.**

all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except under-wear—I  
mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms—

"**How does a monster keep his underwear clean?" Percy asked.**

**Every stared at him as though he asked the weirdest question ever. "Why would you even ask that, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked.**

**Percy just shrugged, going red as everyone's eyes stayed glued to him. "Jason, can you just read?"**

"**Sure," Jason gave him one last weird look before turning back to the book.**

which would've looked funny, except that the top half of his  
body was so scary. Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his  
shoulders.  
His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as  
my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns—enormous  
black-and-white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener.  
I recognized the monster, all right. He had been in one of the first stories Mr. Brunner told us. But he  
couldn't be real.  
I blinked the rain out of my eyes. "That's—"  
"Pasiphae's son," my mother said. "I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you."

"**That's reassuring," Percy said shakily.**

"**She's smart," Athena approved. "She didn't use the name."**

"**Why wouldn't she?" Percy said.**

"**Names have power."**

**That didn't really make sense to Percy, but he decided to let it go.**

"But he's the Min—"  
"Don't say his name," she warned. "Names have power."  
The pine tree was still way too far—a hundred yards uphill at least.  
I glanced behind me again.  
The bull-man hunched over our car, looking in the windows—or not looking, exactly. More like  
snuffling, nuzzling. I wasn't sure why he bothered, since we were only about fifty feet away.

"**What's he doing?" Percy said, confused.**

"**He's smelling your car," Grover said. "you just explained that in the book."**

"**No, I mean, **_**why**_** is he doing that?" Percy said.**

"**His eyesight isn't very well," Annabeth explained. "So he's smelling you out. That'll give you a head start, but it won't give you enough time to reach the property line. If I were you, I would think of a plan."**

"**That'll be kind of hard," Percy said. "My book self is still confused."**

"**Confused is a nice way to put it." Annabeth nodded.**

**Percy glared and continued. "So he'll just be following Mom right now."**

**Annabeth shrugged, mentally thinking of what **_**she**_** would have done in the situation. She most likely would have told Sally to take Grover and hide in the woods as she put on her baseball cap and fought the Minotaur invisibly.**

"Food?" Grover moaned.  
"Shhh," I told him. "Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?"  
"His sight and hearing are terrible," she said. "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon  
enough."  
As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis  
creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the  
wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas  
tank exploded.  
Not a scratch, I remembered Gabe saying.  
Oops.

**Everyone was laughing.**

"**That's what he gets," Poseidon said, pleased. "Though I would have been more satisfied if he was actually in the car when it happened."**

"**Aw, that's sweet," Aphrodite cooed. "You wanted revenge on him for stealing your girlfriend."**

**Poseidon stared at Aphrodite. "No. I wanted revenge on him because he was treating Sally and Percy terribly."**

"**Just admit it, Poseidon," Aphrodite smiled. "You are jealous."**

**Poseidon rolled his eyes. Jealous? No way. It wouldn't be right for Poseidon to be jealous, **_**he **_**left **_**her**_**, but he was furious that she wasn't happy.**

"Percy," my mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the  
way— directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"

"**She's smart for a Mortal," Ares said. "Again, why is it that Poseidon found her first and not me? She knows battle tactics, that's my area of expertise."**

"**She is smart," Athena frowned. "How did you manage to find her Poseidon? I thought the only people you went for were dimwits."**

**Poseidon glared at the both of them.**

"How do you know all this?"  
"I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you  
near me."  
"Keeping me near you? But—"  
Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill.  
He'd smelled us.

"**That sounds weird," Percy felt the need to point out.**

"**Not really," everyone said.**

The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn't  
getting any lighter.

"**Why did you make it so difficult as to get there?" Percy said.**

"**It's a test for all demigods," Annabeth said. "You have to be strong enough to get to the camp. If you don't, you fail."**

"**That's a bit harsh," Percy said.**

"**That's nature," Annabeth shrugged.**

The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us.  
My mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. "Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what  
I said."  
I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right—it was our only chance. I sprinted to the left,  
turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like  
rotten meat.  
He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest.

"**Run!" Grover said fearfully.**

"**No!" Annabeth warned. "Don't run. You can never outrun it. Stick to your mother's plan and sidestep it."**

The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. I could never outrun this thing.  
So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped to the side.  
The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward  
me this time, toward my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass.

"**I thought you said it wasn't after her!" Percy said angrily.**

**Annabeth got defensive. "It wasn't until you wiped your sent on both of them!"**

**Percy clenched his fists. "Great, just great, now this is my fault for not wanting to leave my mother and best friend in a car that just got hit by lightning."**

"**Yes, it is," Annabeth said.**

"**Hey! Stop!" Grover said. "This hasn't even happened yet."**

**Percy and Annabeth stopped talking, but they were glaring at each other fiercely.**

We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said,  
and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never  
make it.  
The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing my mother, who was now retreating slowly  
downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover.

"**Sally sounds brave," Artemis said, sounding disappointed. "I should have gone to her when she was younger."**

"**She is brave, isn't she?" Poseidon said proudly.**

"Run, Percy!" she told me. "I can't go any farther. Run!"  
But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her.

"**You can't help her, Percy, run," Annabeth said.**

"**I'm not going to leave her there," Percy growled, furious that everyone kept telling him to leave his mom with a bloodthirsty Minotaur.**

"**Your loyalty is going to get you killed," Athena said.**

"**If I don't stay my mom will die," Percy said. "Then I would never forgive myself."**

She tried to sidestep, as she'd told me  
to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried  
to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air.

"**No!" Percy shouted.**

**Jason shot him an apologetic look, wishing that he wasn't the one reading this.**

"Mom!"  
She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "Go!"  
Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she dissolved  
before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. A  
blinding flash, and she was simply ... gone.

**The gods all looked at each other, confused. That wasn't how a Mortal died. That wasn't how anyone died. She was summoned, and they all knew it was by the third brother of the big three. Hades.**

"**No," Percy said desperately, his eyes stinging. "She can't be gone."**

**Annabeth felt her earlier anger dissolve and she put a hand on Percy's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Percy."**

"**Hey, man, I'm so sorry," Grover said, putting his head in his hands. "I should have been awake; I should have protected you **_**and**_** your mom."**

**Percy wanted to reassure him that it was fine, but a horrible lump had formed in his throat and he found it impossible to speak.**

"**It's not your fault Grover," Annabeth said. "It's **_**no one**_**'s fault. It just simply happened."**

"**There is nothing simple about it," Reyna disagreed. "Percy, I find that revenge is never a good thing, so don't do anything stupid."**

"**Like what?" Percy managed to say.**

"**Like fighting the Minotaur," Jason said. "You haven't had any training. In other words, there is a very low chance that you can win. So just take Grover and run through the property line as fast as you can."**

**Percy shook his head. He didn't want to think about this. He wanted to go back home, where he knew his mother would be. He wanted to see her smile again…**

"**Can you just read?" Percy said weakly, he wanted to be alone for a while.**

**Jason nodded mercifully and began to read.**

"No!"  
Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs—the same rush of energy I'd gotten  
when Mrs. Dodds grew talons.  
The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass.

"**Stay away from him," Annabeth said angrily.**

The monster hunched over, snuffling  
my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too.

**Grover whimpered.**

"**Don't worry, G-Man," Percy said, feeling a bit angry that he might lose two good people in less than two minutes. "I'm not going to allow that."**

I couldn't allow that.  
I stripped off my red rain jacket.  
"Hey!" I screamed, waving the jacket,

"**You're teasing him," Athena said in disbelief. "That's not a very wise move."**

"**No," Percy agreed. "But I'm going to do it anyways."**

running to one side of the monster. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!"

**Annabeth didn't have the heart to point out how stupid those insults were, but Ares did, "Those are stupid insults, kid."**

"**Sorry," Percy said. "Next time, I'll be sure to write the insults down on a piece of paper before a fight."**

"**That's more I like it."**

"Raaaarrrrr!" The monster turned toward me, shaking his meaty fists.  
I had an idea—a stupid idea, but better than no idea at all. I put my back to the big pine tree and waved  
my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I'd jump out of the way at the last moment.  
But it didn't happen like that.

"**Of course it didn't," Jason said. "The Minotaur already learned from that."**

The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge.  
Time slowed down.  
My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature's head,  
using it as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck.

"**How did I do that?" Percy demanded.**

"**I don't know," Jason said, shocked. "You didn't have any training… I guess it's your ADHD."**

"**I never thought I'd say this," Percy said. "But I'm starting to love my ADHD."**

How did I do that? I didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, the monster's head slammed  
into the tree and the impact nearly knocked my teeth out.

"**Ouch," Grover winced.**

"**At least it didn't **_**really**_** knock my teeth out," Percy said.**

The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me. I locked my arms around his horns to keep from  
being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. The rain was in my eyes. The smell of rotten  
meat burned my nostrils.  
The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the  
tree and smashed me flat, but I was starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward.

"**That's good for you," Annabeth nodded. "Now all you need to do is get a weapon."**

"**I could rip off its horn," Percy said.**

**Ares snorted. "Yeah right. You know how strong you'll have to be to rip off the horn? It's impossible for **_**you**_** to do it."**

Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was  
getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off.

**Percy touched his tongue with his finger, just to make sure it was still there.**

"Food!" Grover moaned.  
The bull-man wheeled toward him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. I thought about  
how he had squeezed the life out of my mother, made her disappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me  
like high-octane fuel. I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backward with all my might.

**Ares rolled his eyes.**

The  
monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then—snap!

**Percy glanced at Ares with a look of grim satisfaction.**

**Ares grunted, "You got strength, punk, I'll give you that."**

The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my back in the grass. My head  
smacked against a rock.

**Jason winced. He remembered all the times he got hit in the head during his training – it always hurt.**

When I sat up, my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged  
bone weapon the size of a knife.

"**There's your weapon," Annabeth said.**

"**But I don't know how to use it," Percy said.**

"**Now is a time to learn."**

The monster charged.  
Without thinking, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, I drove the  
broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage.

"**Great reflexes," Reyna complimented.**

"**You would be good with a knife," Annabeth said.**

The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate—not like my  
mother, in a flash of golden light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same  
way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart.  
The monster was gone.

"**Great," Percy said, but the revenge didn't make him feel any better. His mother was still gone.**

**Reyna looked at him, knowing what he was thinking.**

The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. I smelled like livestock and my  
knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open. I was weak and scared and trembling with  
grief I'd just seen my mother vanish. I wanted to lie down and cry,

"**Get through the property line first," Athena said.**

but there was Grover, needing my  
help,

"**Thanks, man," Grover said weakly. 'But you should have left me there."**

"**I couldn't have," Percy said. "You are my best friend."**

**Grover smiled.**

so I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farm-house. I  
was crying, calling for my mother, but I held on to Grover—I wasn't going to let him go.  
The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me,  
moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl,

**Annabeth felt the same uncomfortable stir in her.**

her blond hair curled like a princess's. They both looked down at me, and the girl said, "He's the one. He  
must be."

"**Sounds like an Aphrodite girl," Annabeth sniffed.**

"**What's **_**that**_** supposed to mean?" Aphrodite said.**

**Annabeth shook her head. "No disrespect, Lady Aphrodite, but they are always saying that. They're picking a boy to break his heart."**

**Aphrodite smiled proudly. "Oh, I hope it **_**is**_** one of my daughters, then. It would be an honor for them to break a heart like yours, Percy Jackson."**

**Percy didn't know if this was a compliment, so he stayed silent.**

**Jason was snickering as he read the next line.**

"Silence, Annabeth," the man said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."

**Annabeth blushed, and that uncomfortable stir inside her became more fuzzy. "You think I'm pretty?" she said to Percy, hoping her smirk and raised eyebrows would cover her embarrassment.**

**Percy was totally red. "Who wants to read next?"**

**Everyone was laughing, except Poseidon and Athena – they didn't want them together. Unfortunately for them, Aphrodite was already planning her next love story.**


	5. I Play Pinochle With a Horse

"**Can we have a break now?" Percy said.**

"**Sure," Athena said, she wanted to talk with her daughter.**

**Percy got up and walked to the room Annabeth had dragged him off to just a few chapters ago. He needed some alone time.**

"**Annabeth, can I talk to you?" Athena said, getting off her throne and walking towards Annabeth. With every step she took, she seemed to be getting smaller and smaller, until she was in front of Annabeth in Mortal height.**

"**Of course, Mother," Annabeth said, already knowing what she wanted to talk about.**

**Athena and Annabeth walked to a room just next to Percy's, and the second Athena closed the door, she turned to her daughter, a serious expression on her face.**

"**Annabeth, you know what aquenting with this boy will mean," Athena said.**

**Annabeth looked her mother straight in the eye. The eyes that resembled her own so greatly. "Yes, Mother, I do."**

**Athena searched her daughter's face. There was stubbornness in there. "His fatal flaw is loyalty, Annabeth. I can tell."**

**Annabeth felt a chill go up her spine. "That's not good."**

"**No," Athena agreed. "Do you really want to be a subject to his loyalty?"**

**If Annabeth would admit it to herself, she didn't mind – in fact, she would love it; but she knew it wasn't right. "Mother, he's my friend." Annabeth said.**

"**And he will make a great friend," Athena said. "But that friendship can get you both killed."**

"**That," Annabeth said. "Is a chance I am willing to take."**

**And with that, she left the room, where she seen Percy sitting with her other friends, talking.**

**He was the first to notice her, and he smiled at her in greeting – though his smile was sad. Annabeth took the seat next to him.**

"**I'll read," Reyna said when Athena sat on her throne.**

**Jason handed her the book.**

I PLAY PINOCHLE  
WITH A HORSE

"**I'm sure Chiron will love that," Annabeth said, her blushing face slowly turning back to normal color.**

"**Chiron is the horse?" Percy said.**

"**Yes."**

I had weird dreams full of barnyard animals. Most of them wanted to kill me. The rest wanted food.

"**I'm not a barnyard animal!" Grover said defiantly.**

"**Then how did you know I was talking about you?" Percy said, raising his eyebrow.**

"**Uh," Grover blushed.**

I must've woken up several times, but what I heard and saw made no sense, so I just passed out again. I  
remember lying in a soft bed, being spoon-fed something that tasted like buttered popcorn,

"**Ambrosia," Annabeth said.**

"**What's that?" Percy asked.**

"**It's the gods' food," Annabeth said. "But we can't eat too much of it or we would explode."**

"**Then why am I being fed this?" Percy said.**

"**It heels you," Annabeth said.**

only it was  
pudding. The girl with curly blond hair hovered over me, smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with  
the spoon.

"**Someone is enjoying this," Aphrodite said. "Oh, how adorable, he's going to fall in love with his nurse."**

"**I am not going to fall in love with her!" Percy objected, the same time Annabeth said, "I'm not enjoying it!"**

"**Then why are you smirking?" Athena said bitterly.**

"**Because…" Annabeth thought up something. "He probably looks ridiculous while he's sleeping."**

"**Hey!" Percy said.**

When she saw my eyes open, she asked, "What will happen at the summer solstice?"

"**He just woke up," Poseidon said. "Don't you think you should wait till he feels better?"**

"**The quicker I get information, the better," Annabeth shrugged. "But he obviously doesn't know anything."**

I managed to croak, "What?"  
She looked around, as if afraid someone would over-hear. "What's going on? What was stolen? We've  
only got a few weeks!"

"**Why are you saying 'we'," Percy said. "I don't even know you yet."**

"**Because the thing that's going to happen is obviously important," Annabeth said. "I'm not going to be butted out."**

**Percy shook his head in disbelief.**

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, "I don't..."  
Somebody knocked on the door, and the girl quickly filled my mouth with pudding.

"**That's one way to shut him up," Athena said.**

"**That's also one way to his heart," Aphrodite sighed. "Boys **_**love**_** food, and they love woman who give them food."**

**Percy wished Annabeth wasn't sitting so closely to him, this wasn't helping his already flushed face.**

The next time I woke up, the girl was gone.

"**He misses you," Aphrodite said.**

"**No I don't," Percy said. "I just said that she was gone. I was noting the obvious."**

"**Why was it the first thing you noticed, then?" Aphrodite said.**

**Percy thought it best not to answer, causing Reyna to smirk as she read.**

A husky blond dude, like a surfer, stood in the corner of the bedroom keeping watch over me. He had  
blue eyes— at least a dozen of them—on his cheeks, his forehead, the backs of his hands.

"**What the!" Percy said, startled. "Why is he there?"**

"**He's watching over you, duh," Grover said.**

"**Right," Percy said, still unnerved.**

* * *  
When I finally came around for good, there was nothing weird about my surroundings, except that they  
were nicer than I was used to. I was sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at  
green hills in the distance. The breeze smelled like strawberries.

"**The Demeter cabin likes to tend to the strawberries," Annabeth said. "They really do a nice job."**

"**I'll say," Grover said, smiling. "I love that cabin.**

There was a blanket over my legs, a  
pillow behind my neck. All that was great, but my mouth felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest.

"**Ew," Percy said, touching his tongue again. "That's disgusting. Where would it use the bathroom?"**

"**Really?" Reyna said. "**_**That's**_** what you ask? Not how would it be in your mouth in the first place?"**

**Percy shrugged.**

My tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth hurt.  
On the table next to me was a tall drink. It looked like iced apple juice, with a green straw and a paper  
parasol stuck through a maraschino cherry.

"**That's nectar," Annabeth said. "It's a godly drink."**

My hand was so weak I almost dropped the glass once I got my fingers around it.  
"Careful," a familiar voice said.  
Grover was leaning against the porch railing, looking like he hadn't slept in a week.

"**Grover, you should be getting sleep," Annabeth frowned.**

"**I'm probably worried sick," Grover said. "I can't sleep when I'm worried."**

Under one arm, he  
cradled a shoe box. He was wearing blue jeans, Converse hi-tops and a bright orange T-shirt that said  
CAMP HALF-BLOOD. Just plain old Grover, Not the goat boy.

"**Don't call me goat boy," Grover said.**

"**That's okay," Percy said. "I like G-Man better, anyway."**

**Grover smiled.**

So maybe I'd had a nightmare. Maybe my mom was okay.

**Percy frowned at the reminder of his mom.**

We were still on vacation, and we'd stopped  
here at this big house for some reason. And ...  
"You saved my life," Grover said.

"**Thanks for that," Percy said bitterly.**

"**It's better like this, Percy," Annabeth said gently. "Being in denial will only drag the pain out."**

**Percy sighed.**

"I... well, the least I could do ... I went back to the hill. I thought you  
might want this."  
Reverently, he placed the shoe box in my lap.  
Inside was a black-and-white bull's horn, the base jagged from being broken off, the tip splattered with  
dried blood. It hadn't been a nightmare.  
"The Minotaur," I said.  
"Urn, Percy, it isn't a good idea—"  
"That's what they call him in the Greek myths, isn't it?" I demanded. "The Minotaur. Half man, half bull."

"**Don't keep saying it," Jason warned. "Names have power. You can make the Minotaur come back from Tartarus faster."**

Grover shifted uncomfortably. "You've been out for two days. How much do you remember?"  
"My mom. Is she really ..."

**Everyone looked down in respect for Sally Jackson.**

"**She died a heroes death," Jason said.**

**But the gods weren't so sure. Still, they knew Hades had summoned her – but for what?**

He looked down.  
I stared across the meadow. There were groves of trees, a winding stream, acres of strawberries spread  
out under the blue sky. The valley was surrounded by rolling hills, and the tallest one, directly in front of  
us, was the one with the huge pine tree on top. Even that looked beautiful in the sunlight.

"**Thalia would be glad to hear," Annabeth said.**

My mother was gone. The whole world should be black and cold. Nothing should look beautiful.

"**Isn't that a bit much?" Athena said.**

"**Her appearance always changes when the weather does," Percy said. "The sky is blue, her eyes are blue. The sky is grey, her eyes are grey. It's like an insult that the weather didn't change when she's gone."**

"I'm sorry," Grover sniffled. "I'm a failure. I'm—I'm the worst satyr in the world."

"**No, Grover, you're not," Annabeth said sternly. "You're the best satyr I know."**

**Grover smiled, though thinking of all his past failures made him doubt what Annabeth said.**

He moaned, stomping his foot so hard it came off. I mean, the Converse hi-top came off. The inside was  
filled with Styrofoam, except for a hoof-shaped hole.  
"Oh, Styx!" he mumbled.

"**That's an… um, **_**interesting**_** curse," Percy said uncertainly.**

"**It's one of the worst out there," Grover nodded.**

Thunder rolled across the clear sky.  
As he struggled to get his hoof back in the fake foot, I thought, Well, that settles it.  
Grover was a satyr. I was ready to bet that if I shaved his curly brown hair, I'd find tiny horns on his  
head.

"**Don't even think about it," Grover shuddered.**

**Percy just grinned.**

But I was too miserable to care that satyrs existed, or even minotaurs.

"**Minotaur," Annabeth corrected. "There is only one, Percy."**

"**Sorry," Percy said.**

All that meant was my mom  
really had been squeezed into nothingness, dissolved into yellow light.  
I was alone. An orphan.

"**No you're not," Reyna said. "You still have your dad."**

"**Who I think is dead in the book," Percy said.**

"**Why?" Jason said. "Your mother said he was lost at sea, not dead."**

"**I thought she was just in denial," Percy shrugged.**

I would have to live with ... Smelly Gabe?

"**No way." Percy said.**

"**You can live with me," Annabeth said. "In Camp Half-Blood. That's home to all demigods who need it."**

"**Thanks," Percy said, though he knew he wouldn't feel at home unless his mother was there with him.**

No. That would never happen. I  
would live on the streets first. I would pretend I was seventeen and join the army.

"**You don't look seventeen." Ares said to him. "You look more like you're six."**

**Percy scowled. "Everyone must look six to you, grandpa."**

**The gods laughed at Ares' expression. He looked like he'd been punched in the face.**

I'd do something.  
Grover was still sniffling. The poor kid—poor goat, satyr, whatever—looked as if he expected to be hit.

"**Did you really expect me to hit you?" Percy said in disbelief.**

**Grover shrugged, it wouldn't be the first time he was hit, there were a lot of bullies out there.**

"**Geez, Grover," Percy said. "You got hit by lightning and knocked out – it's in no way your fault."**

I said, "It wasn't your fault."  
"Yes, it was. I was supposed to protect you."  
"Did my mother ask you to protect me?"  
"No. But that's my job. I'm a keeper. At least... I was."  
"But why ..." I suddenly felt dizzy, my vision swimming.

"**Stop overwhelming him, Grover," Reyna said. "That's too much information."**

"Don't strain yourself," Grover said. "Here." He helped me hold my glass and put the straw to my lips.  
I recoiled at the taste,

"**Why?" Zeus demanded. "It tastes good."**

**Percy shrugged.**

because I was expecting apple juice.

"**Oh."**

It wasn't that at all. It was chocolate-chip  
cookies. Liquid cookies. And not just any cookies—my mom's homemade blue chocolate-chip cookies,  
buttery and hot, with the chips still melting.

"**Sounds delicious," Grover said wistfully.**

"**Why does it taste like my mother's cookies?" Percy said.**

"**It supposed to taste different to each person," Annabeth said. "Something that makes them feels happy."**

Drinking it, my whole body felt warm and good, full of energy.  
My grief didn't go away, but I felt as if my mom had just brushed her hand against my cheek, given me a  
cookie the way she used to when I was small, and told me everything was going to be okay.

**Annabeth signed. She knew what it was like to feel sad, but dwelling on it wasn't helping anyone.**

"**Everything is going to be okay, Percy," Annabeth said. "I promise."**

**Percy didn't know why, but this actually made him feel better.**

Before I knew it, I'd drained the glass. I stared into it, sure I'd just had a warm drink, but the ice cubes  
hadn't even melted.

"**That's weird," Percy said.**

"**That's nectar," Annabeth smiled.**

"Was it good?" Grover asked.  
I nodded.  
"What did it taste like?" He sounded so wistful, I felt guilty.  
"Sorry," I said. "I should've let you taste."

**Grover's eyes got wide. "What? No! One drop of that can kill me."**

His eyes got wide. "No! That's not what I meant. I just... wondered."  
"Chocolate-chip cookies," I said. "My mom's. Home-made."  
He sighed. "And how do you feel?"  
"Like I could throw Nancy Bobofit a hundred yards."

"**That's good," Grover grinned.**

"**I wish you would," Annabeth said. "She annoyed me."**

"That's good," he said. "That's good. I don't think you could risk drinking any more of that stuff"  
"What do you mean?"  
He took the empty glass from me gingerly, as if it were dynamite, and set it back on the table. "Come on.  
Chiron and Mr. D are waiting."

"**You should have explained it to him," Athena said. "He could accidentally drink too much and die."**

"**Aren't you a ray of sunshine?" Percy said, earning a glare from Athena.**

The porch wrapped all the way around the farmhouse.  
My legs felt wobbly, trying to walk that far. Grover offered to carry the Minotaur horn, but I held on to  
it. I'd paid for that souvenir the hard way. I wasn't going to let it go.  
As we came around the opposite end of the house, I caught my breath.  
We must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley  
marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there,  
I simply couldn't process everything I was seeing. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked  
like ancient Greek architecture—an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena—except that  
they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen  
high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright  
orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods.  
Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and, unless I was  
hallucinating, some of their horses had wings.

"**Sounds impressive," Jason said, though as he compared that camp to his – he was proud to admit that his was way better. But his opinion was a bit biased.**

"**That's because it is," Annabeth said.**

Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. The blond-haired girl

"**The blond-haired girl?" Annabeth said edgily. "Did you really call me that?"**

"**Well, you are blonde," Percy said.**

**Annabeth crossed her arms, her expression angry. It was hard for her to be seen as more than a blond. It was hard for her to be taken seriously – everything that included brains everyone had looked at her like she was silly until she proved herself. And to be marked as the blond girl… well, it was less than satisfactory.**

who'd spoon-fed me popcorn-flavored pudding was leaning on the porch rail next to them.  
The man facing me was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it  
was almost purple. He looked like those paintings of baby angels— what do you call them, hubbubs?  
No, cherubs. That's it. He looked like a cherub who'd turned middle-aged in a trailer park. He wore a  
tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt, and he would've fit right in at one of Gabe's poker parties, except I got the  
feeling this guy could've out-gambled even my step-father.

"**I bet the last part would please Mr. D," Annabeth said.**

"**But the first part would probably make you get blasted," Grover said shakily.**

"**How can he blast me?" Percy said.**

"**He's a god," Grover didn't explain further.**

"That's Mr. D," Grover murmured to me. "He's the camp director. Be polite. The girl, that's Annabeth  
Chase. She's just a camper,

"**What's that supposed to mean?" Annabeth said.**

"**It means you're a camper," Grover said. "What else am I supposed to say?"**

"**Why did you put **_**just**_** in there?"**

**Grover looked apologetic. "Sorry?"**

but she's been here longer than just about anybody.

"**How long have you been there?" Jason asked.**

"**Since I was seven," Annabeth replied.**

"**I've been at my camp since I was two," Jason said.**

"**Why?" Percy said, he got no answer.**

And you already know  
Chiron... ."  
He pointed at the guy whose back was to me.  
First, I realized he was sitting in the wheelchair. Then I recognized the tweed jacket, the thinning brown  
hair, the scraggly beard.  
"Mr. Brunner!" I cried.

"**The satyr just said his name was Chiron and you call him Mr. Brunner?" Athena said.**

**Percy shrugged.**

"**Why is he in a wheelchair?" Annabeth wondered.**

"**He probably didn't want to overwhelm, Percy," Poseidon said. "Something you and Grover don't seem too cautious of."**

"**Sorry," Annabeth and Grover said.**

The Latin teacher turned and smiled at me. His eyes had that mischievous glint they sometimes got in  
class when he pulled a pop quiz and made all the multiple choice answers B .

"**I love those tests," Grover said. "I had a few teachers who did that – they were the best."**

"**Chiron is the best," Annabeth said.**

"Ah, good, Percy," he said. "Now we have four for pinochle."

"**Uh, hello to you too?" Percy said sarcastically.**

"**He probably doesn't want to make it awkward by getting straight to business," Reyna said.**

He offered me a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great  
sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be  
glad to see you."

"**I already don't like him," Percy said.**

"**No one really does," Annabeth said.**

"**Ssh," Grover told them. "He might hear you."**

**Percy looked at him, confused. "How-"**

"**Just don't talk bad about him, alright?" Grover pleaded.**

**Percy didn't promise.**

"Uh, thanks." I scooted a little farther away from him because, if there was one thing I had learned from  
living with Gabe, it was how to tell when an adult has been hit-ting the happy juice. If Mr. D was a  
stranger to alcohol, I was a satyr.  
"Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner called to the blond girl.

**Annabeth scowled again and looked at Percy like she wanted to punch him. Percy scooted away from her.**

She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced us. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy.  
Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for  
now."  
Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron."  
She was probably my age, maybe a couple of inches taller,

**Annabeth smirked down at Percy, who looked uncomfortable.**

"**Don't worry, Percy," Aphrodite said. "I'll make sure that you are taller than her someday. You two will be perfect heights for each other."**

**Percy and Annabeth turned red.**

"**Don't interfere with my daughter's life, Aphrodite," Athena said.**

"**I'm not making promises," Aphrodite replied. "And I'll hardly interfere with her life. Just a few twists every now and then – it's Percy's life I'm more interested in using."**

**Percy wasn't the least bit pleased to hear this.**

and a whole lot more athletic looking.

**Annabeth's faced turned back to its original color and she smiled proudly. "Years of training does that to you, Seaweed Brain."**

**Percy didn't like the superior voice she adopted.**

With  
her deep tan and her curly blond hair, she was almost exactly what I thought a stereotypical California girl  
would look like, except her eyes ruined the image.

**Both Annabeth and Athena frowned. "There is nothing wrong with my/her eyes."**

"**I know there isn't," Percy said.**

They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty,

**Aphrodite smiled and Annabeth blushed. "He thinks your eyes are pretty, Annabeth."**

"**So?" Annabeth snapped.**

"**And you know you **_**love**_** the compliment."**

**Reyna found pity on them and decided it would be best to keep reading.**

but  
intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight.

"**Did you do that when you first saw me?" Percy asked her.**

"**Of course."**

She glanced at the minotaur horn in my hands, then back at me. I imagined she was going to say, You  
killed a minotaur! or Wow, you're so awesome! or something like that.

"**Right," Annabeth scoffed. "You sure do have an ego on you."**

"**Like you don't," Percy shot back.**

"**Don't you just love a lovers spat?" Aphrodite sighed, making both Annabeth and Percy jump away from each other. "Oh, don't stop, it looked so cute."**

"**Just read," Annabeth practically spat at Reyna.**

Instead she said, "You drool when you sleep."  
Then she sprinted off down the lawn, her blond hair flying behind her.

"**Someone has a crush," Aphrodite said.**

"**How does that make you think she has a crush on me?" Percy demanded.**

"**Girls always show off when they see a boy," Aphrodite said airily. "She's showing off her quickness **_**and**_** her hair at the same time – well played, Annabeth. I wish you were my daughter – only you have to do something with your hair."**

**Annabeth looked at her hair, offended. The princess curls had dropped but Percy thought that it still looked pretty in her natural curls.**

"**Don't insult my daughter, Aphrodite," Athena said. "I will not allow it."**

**Aphrodite just tossed her silky brown hair over her shoulder and gave her sister a glossy smile.**

"So," I said, anxious to change the subject. "You, uh, work here, Mr. Brunner?"  
"Not Mr. Brunner," the ex—Mr. Brunner said. "I'm afraid that was a pseudonym. You may call me  
Chiron."  
"Okay." Totally confused, I looked at the director. "And Mr. D ... does that stand for something?"  
Mr. D stopped shuffling the cards. He looked at me like I'd just belched loudly. "Young man, names are  
powerful things. You don't just go around using them for no reason."

"**Uh…" Percy looked at everyone, though no one looked confused but him, so he decided to let it go.**

"Oh. Right. Sorry."  
"I must say, Percy," Chiron-Brunner broke in, "I'm glad to see you alive. It's been a long time since I've  
made a house call to a potential camper. I'd hate to think I've wasted my time."  
"House call?"  
"My year at Yancy Academy, to instruct you. We have satyrs at most schools, of course, keeping a  
lookout. But Grover alerted me as soon as he met you. He sensed you were something special, so I  
decided to come upstate. I convinced the other Latin teacher to ... ah, take a leave of absence."  
I tried to remember the beginning of the school year. It seemed like so long ago, but I did have a fuzzy  
memory of there being another Latin teacher my first week at Yancy.

"**That's the Mist," Annabeth said. "It's good that that one affected you, tough. Otherwise, you wouldn't have trusted Chiron at all."**

Then, without explanation, he had  
disappeared and Mr. Brunner had taken the class.  
"You came to Yancy just to teach me?" I asked.  
Chiron nodded. "Honestly, I wasn't sure about you at first. We contacted your mother, let her know we  
were keeping an eye on you in case you were ready for Camp Half-Blood. But you still had so much to  
learn. Nevertheless, you made it here alive, and that's always the first test."

"**The first test is to live?" Percy said. "That kind of sucks for all the dead ones."**

"**That's nothing to joke about, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said. "Lots of demigods died before they even knew about the camp."**

**Percy thought of innocent little kids, probably six or seven, moving from alleyway to alleyway, trying to find a safe place they would never reach; and he felt sick to his stomach.**

"Grover," Mr. D said impatiently, "are you playing or not?"  
"Yes, sir!" Grover trembled as he took the fourth chair, though I didn't know why he should be so afraid  
of a pudgy little man in a tiger-print Hawaiian shirt.

"**Because he's dangerous," Grover said lowly.**

"**Okay?" Percy said.**

"You do know how to play pinochle?" Mr. D eyed me suspiciously.  
"I'm afraid not," I said.  
"I'm afraid not, sir," he said.  
"Sir," I repeated. I was liking the camp director less and less.

'**He's teaching you how to be polite," Athena said. "There is no reason to hate him."**

"**He's saying it rudely," Percy said. "So he's not much of a role model, is he?"**

"**Percy," Annabeth hissed, shaking her head. He should **_**not**_** mess with this goddess.**

"Well," he told me, "it is, along with gladiator fighting and Pac-Man, one of the greatest games ever  
invented by humans. I would expect all civilized young men to know the rules."

"**Gladiator fighting is civilized?" Percy said.**

"**Of course," Ares said. "The most civilized game out there."**

"I'm sure the boy can learn," Chiron said.  
"Please," I said, "what is this place? What am I doing here? Mr. Brun—Chiron—why would you go to  
Yancy Academy just to teach me?"  
Mr. D snorted. "I asked the same question."  
The camp director dealt the cards. Grover flinched every time one landed in his pile.  
Chiron smiled at me sympathetically, the way he used to in Latin class, as if to let me know that no  
matter what my average was,I was his star student.

**Annabeth looked offended.**

"**Cool," Percy smiled. "I like him."**

"**It's impossible not to," Annabeth said, still miffed about the 'star student' thing. "I think even Mr. D likes him."**

He expected me to have the right answer.  
"Percy," he said. "Did your mother tell you nothing?'  
"She said ..." I remembered her sad eyes, looking out over the sea. "She told me she was afraid to send  
me here, even though my father had wanted her to. She said that once I was here, I probably couldn't  
leave. She wanted to keep me close to her."  
"Typical," Mr. D said. "That's how they usually get killed. Young man, are you bidding or not?"

**Percy glared at Grover. "Do you **_**really**_** expect me not to say anything bad about him?"**

**Grover looked frightened. "Please?"**

**Percy glared but nodded.**

"What?" I asked.  
He explained, impatiently, how you bid in pinochle, and so I did.  
"I'm afraid there's too much to tell," Chiron said. "I'm afraid our usual orientation film won't be sufficient."

"**Orientation film?" Percy echoed.**

"Orientation film?" I asked.  
"No," Chiron decided. "Well, Percy. You know your friend Grover is a satyr. You know"—he pointed  
to the horn in the shoe box—"that you have killed the Minotaur. No small feat, either, lad. What you may  
not know is that great powers are at work in your life. Gods—the forces you call the Greek gods—are  
very much alive."

"**Annabeth explained it better," Percy said.**

"**And you **_**still**_** didn't get it," Annabeth said. "Poor Chiron is in for a mouthful."**

I stared at the others around the table.  
I waited for somebody to yell, Not! But all I got was Mr. D yelling, "Oh, a royal marriage. Trick! Trick!"  
He cackled as he tallied up his points.  
"Mr. D," Grover asked timidly, "if you're not going to eat it, could I have your Diet Coke can?"

"**Good job, Grover," Annabeth said. "You've finally asked him."**

**Grover smiled as though this was the biggest feat in his lifetime. Percy looked at him weirdly.**

"Eh? Oh, all right."  
Grover bit a huge shard out of the empty aluminum can and chewed it mournfully.  
"Wait," I told Chiron. "You're telling me there's such a thing as God."

"**God**_**s**_**, Percy," Annabeth said. "Not God."**

"Well, now," Chiron said. "God—capital G , God. That's a different matter altogether. We shan't deal  
with the metaphysical."  
"Metaphysical? But you were just talking about—"  
"Ah, gods, plural, as in, great beings that control the forces of nature and human endeavors: the immortal  
gods of Olympus. That's a smaller matter."

"**Smaller?" The gods echoed.**

"**What does he mean by **_**smaller**_**?" Ares demanded, drawing himself up to his fullest height.**

"**It makes sense if you think about it," Annabeth said carefully, not wanting Chiron to get electrocuted. **

"Smaller?"  
"Yes, quite. The gods we discussed in Latin class."  
"Zeus," I said. "Hera. Apollo. You mean them."

"**Why did you only mention them?" Ares demanded.**

"**No offense," Percy said. "But there are a lot of you, and those would be the ones that popped in my head first."**

"**I understand Zeus," Aphrodite said. "But why Hera? I mean, she's so **_**plain**_**."**

"**And why Apollo?" Artemis said. "He's an idiot."**

"**He's a hot idiot," Aphrodite said.**

"**You mean he's hot-**_**headed**_**," Artemis corrected.**

"**Hey!" Percy said, looking very annoyed. "I'm sorry if you all weren't mentioned, but this is future me – go annoy him."**

**Reyna, worried that they all might start to yell at Percy, read quickly.**

And there it was again—distant thunder on a cloud-less day.  
"Young man," said Mr. D, "I would really be less casual about throwing those names around, if I were  
you."  
"But they're stories," I said. "They're—myths, to explain lightning and the seasons and stuff. They're what  
people believed before there was science."

**Everyone in the room groaned.**

"**Oh, here we go again," Athena said.**

"Science!" Mr. D scoffed. "And tell me, Perseus Jackson"—I flinched when he said my real name, which  
I never told anybody—

"**How does he know my name?" Percy demanded.**

"**He's a god," Jason said. "He knows things."**

"what will people think of your 'science' two thousand years from now?" Mr. D  
continued. "Hmm? They will call it primitive mumbo jumbo. That's what. Oh, I love mortals—they have  
absolutely no sense of perspective. They think they've come so-o-o far. And have they, Chiron? Look at  
this boy and tell me."

"**That's rude," Reyna said. "Is this guy really your camp director?"**

"**Unfortunately," Annabeth said. "But he's actually very good at his job."**

I wasn't liking Mr. D much, but there was something about the way he called me mortal, as if... he  
wasn't. It was enough to put a lump in my throat, to suggest why Grover was dutifully minding his cards,  
chewing his soda can, and keeping his mouth shut.  
"Percy," Chiron said, "you may choose to believe or not, but the fact is that immortal means immortal.  
Can you imagine that for a moment, never dying? Never fading? Existing, just as you are, for all time?"

"**That sounds awesome," Percy said excitedly.**

"**That's because it is," Zeus said proudly. "Being a god is the best thing to be."**

I was about to answer, off the top of my head, that it sounded like a pretty good deal, but the tone of  
Chiron's voice made me hesitate.

"**You didn't hesitate now," Jason noted.**

**Percy shrugged. "I don't know what tone he used."**

"You mean, whether people believed in you or not," I said.  
"Exactly," Chiron agreed. "If you were a god, how would you like being called a myth, an old story to  
explain lightning? What if I told you, Perseus Jackson, that some-day people would call you a myth, just  
created to explain how little boys can get over losing their mothers?"  
My heart pounded. He was trying to make me angry for some reason,

"**Why would he do that?" Percy said.**

**Annabeth shrugged. "Maybe you offended him."**

"**Or he just wants you to see what it would be like to be called a myth," Grover said helpfully.**

"**Well, he's being a jerk," Percy huffed.**

but I wasn't going to let him. I  
said, "I wouldn't like it. But I don't believe in gods."

"**You really **_**are**_** stubborn," Artemis said.**

"**And you're not?" Aphrodite huffed. "Still, after eons and eons, you **_**refuse**_** to let me give you dating tips."**

"**I made an oath to be a maiden forever!" Artemis said.**

"**People can break oaths, Artemis," Aphrodite said. "Just look at Zeus and Poseidon! And Athena made the same oath – but she still dates and has kids."**

"**She's still a **_**maiden**_**, though," Artemis said. "She never actually **_**had**_** kids. They were bron from her mind!"**

"**Really?" Percy said, looking at Annabeth in interest. "How does that work, Wise Girl?"**

"**Wise Girl?" Annabeth said, her cheeks turning red. "Is that what you're **_**really**_** planning on calling me, Seaweed Brain?"**

"**It was that or Owl Face," Percy smirked. "Take your pick."**

"**I pick Wise Girl," Annabeth signed. "It's less offensive."**

"**Awww," Aphrodite said, momentarily distracted from her 'important' argument. "They have pet names for each other!"**

**Percy and Annabeth blushed.**

"Oh, you'd better," Mr. D murmured. "Before one of them incinerates you."  
Grover said, "P-please, sir. He's just lost his mother. He's in shock."  
"A lucky thing, too," Mr. D grumbled, playing a card. "Bad enough I'm confined to this miserable job,  
working with boys who don't even believe.'"  
He waved his hand and a goblet appeared on the table, as if the sunlight had bent, momentarily, and  
woven the air into glass. The goblet filled itself with red wine.

"**You know, this **_**Mr. D**_** is different from Bacchus," Jason said. "Why is he acting different."**

"**We change when we turn into our other," Athena said. "Dionysus becomes less…"**

"**Of a jerk," Artemis helped.**

"**I like Bacchus better, then," Percy said.**

My jaw dropped, but Chiron hardly looked up.  
"Mr. D," he warned, "your restrictions."  
Mr. D looked at the wine and feigned surprise.  
"Dear me." He looked at the sky and yelled, "Old habits! Sorry!"

"**Does he think I'm an idiot?" Zeus said.**

"**He thinks you won't notice," Athena said.**

More thunder.  
Mr. D waved his hand again, and the wineglass changed into a fresh can of Diet Coke. He sighed  
unhappily, popped the top of the soda, and went back to his card game.  
Chiron winked at me. "Mr. D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph who had  
been declared off-limits."

"**Thousands of wood nymphs and he went for **_**that**_** one," Zeus grumbled. **

"**Thousands of girls and you went for **_**my**_** Hunter!" Artemis said.**

"A wood nymph," I repeated, still staring at the Diet Coke can like it was from outer space.  
"Yes," Mr. D confessed. "Father loves to punish me. The first time, Prohibition. Ghastly! Absolutely  
horrid ten years! The second time—well, she really was pretty, and I couldn't stay away—the second  
time, he sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you. 'Be a better influence,' he told  
me. 'Work with youths rather than tearing them down.' Ha.' Absolutely unfair."  
Mr. D sounded about six years old, like a pouting little kid.

'**I'm sure he'll love to hear that," Annabeth smirked.**

"**Don't tell him," Grover said hurriedly. "He'll get angry with Percy."**

"And ..." I stammered, "your father is ..."  
"Di immortales, Chiron," Mr. D said. "I thought you taught this boy the basics. My father is Zeus, of  
course."  
I ran through D names from Greek mythology. Wine. The skin of a tiger. The satyrs that all seemed to  
work here. The way Grover cringed, as if Mr. D were his master.  
"You're Dionysus," I said. "The god of wine."  
Mr. D rolled his eyes. "What do they say, these days, Grover? Do the children say, 'Well, duh!'?"

"Y-yes, Mr. D."  
"Then, well, duh! Percy Jackson. Did you think I was Aphrodite, perhaps?"

**Everyone snickered at the thought – except Aphrodite, who recoiled in distaste.**

"**Really?" She said crossly. "He had to choose me? Why doesn't he choose someone who looks most like him – like Artemis?"**

**Artemis stopped laughing and glared at Aphrodite. "I look nothing like that **_**man**_**."**

"**Yeah, she doesn't," Grover said wistfully, but cringed when Artemis directed her glare at him.**

"**Are you testing me, satyr?" Artemis said quietly.**

"**N-no, Ma'am," Grover stuttered.**

"**Then I suggest you tell your friend to read," Artemis said.**

**Grover turned desperately to Reyna, who nodded and began to read.**

"You're a god."  
"Yes, child."  
"A god. You."

"**You need to watch that mouth of yours, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said. "It can get you killed."**

"**Sorry," Percy said.**

He turned to look at me straight on, and I saw a kind of purplish fire in his eyes, a hint that this whiny,  
plump little man was only showing me the tiniest bit of his true nature. I saw visions of grape vines  
choking unbelievers to death, drunken warriors insane with battle lust, sailors screaming as their hands  
turned to flippers, their faces elongating into dolphin snouts.

**Grover shivered. "That's not all. He's done worse things."**

**Percy was growing very cautious. "Will he?"**

"**If you push him enough?" Annabeth said. "Yes."**

I knew that if I pushed him, Mr. D would  
show me worse things. He would plant a disease in my brain that would leave me wearing a strait-jacket  
in a rubber room for the rest of my life.  
"Would you like to test me, child?" he said quietly.  
"No. No, sir."  
The fire died a little. He turned back to his card game. "I believe I win."

"**Yeah right," Annabeth said. "Chiron is unbeatable in that game."**

"Not quite, Mr. D," Chiron said. He set down a straight, tallied the points, and said, "The game goes to  
me."

"**Geez," Percy said weakly. "I love how he shows me all of that and they go one with their conversation like nothing happened."**

"**It's better for us to keep moving forward," Jason said.**

I thought Mr. D was going to vaporize Chiron right out of his wheelchair, but he just sighed through his  
nose, as if he were used to being beaten by the Latin teacher.

"**He is," Grover said, then covered his mouth and shrank in his seat as though he expected to get his by an invisible force. Percy looked at him as though he went a little weird.**

He got up, and Grover rose, too.  
"I'm tired," Mr. D said. "I believe I'll take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first, Grover, we need  
to talk, again, about your less-than-perfect performance on this assignment."

**Grover cringed. "Ah man."**

"**It'll be okay, Grover," Annabeth said. "You haven't failed yet, you just haven't succeeded, either."**

"**Percy is the son of Poseidon," Grover said sadly. "That means they won't let him have a quest till he's sixteen – and that's when he's going to… you know. So that means I'll fail – the prophecy says so."**

"**Prophecies have double meanings," Annabeth reassured him.**

"**What do you mean that's when I… you know?" Percy said. "What do I do? And how will you fail?"**

"**We can't tell you," Annabeth said. "Knowledge can be a dangerous thing."**

"**Hark whose talking, Wise Girl," Percy said.**

"**It's the truth," Annabeth said. "It's bad to know your future – that's why I'm very cautious about what this book tells us."**

"**What do you mean?" Jason said.**

"**I mean," Annabeth said. "What if the books say who we're going to marry in the future? We don't know these people, we might not even like them in this time, it can mess us up."**

"**Well, that's not going to happen," Percy said. "I'm not going to marry someone just because a book says I have to."**

**Annabeth looked at him grimly. "That's what you say now, Seaweed Brain."**

Grover's face beaded with sweat. "Y-yes, sir."  
Mr. D turned to me. "Cabin eleven, Percy Jackson. And mind your manners."  
He swept into the farmhouse, Grover following miserably.  
"Will Grover be okay?" I asked Chiron.  
Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled. "Old Dionysus isn't really mad. He just hates his job.  
He's been ... ah, grounded, I guess you would say, and he can't stand waiting another century before he's  
allowed to go back to Olympus."  
"Mount Olympus," I said. "You're telling me there really is a palace there?"

"**Duh, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said. "You're sitting in it."**

"**Shut up."**

"Well now, there's Mount Olympus in Greece. And then there's the home of the gods, the convergence  
point of their powers, which did indeed used to be on Mount Olympus. It's still called Mount Olympus,  
out of respect to the old ways, but the palace moves, Percy, just as the gods do."  
"You mean the Greek gods are here? Like... in America?"  
"Well, certainly. The gods move with the heart of the West."  
"The what?"  
"Come now, Percy. What you call 'Western civilization.' Do you think it's just an abstract concept? No,  
it's a living force. A collective consciousness that has burned bright for thousands of years. The gods are  
part of it. You might even say they are the source of it, or at least, they are tied so tightly to it that they  
couldn't possibly fade, not unless all of Western civilization were obliterated. The fire started in Greece.  
Then, as you well know—or as I hope you know, since you passed my course—the heart of the fire  
moved to Rome, and so did the gods. Oh, different names, perhaps—Jupiter for Zeus, Venus for  
Aphrodite, and so on—but the same forces, the same gods."

"**I was mentioned," Aphrodite said.**

"**I was too," Zeus said.**

"**When **_**aren't**_** you mentioned," Ares grumbled. "I'm the god of war! Why aren't I mentioned?"**

"**I'm sure lots of people mention you, Ares," Aphrodite said. "They just mention **_**me**_** more. No need to worry though, we're both mentioned enough."**

**Ares smirked.**

"And then they died.

"**Does immortal mean **_**nothing**_** to you, Percy Jackson?" Athena said. "We can't die."**

"**Sorry," Percy said. "But that isn't me. I mean, it's **_**me**_** but it's not **_**me**_** me-"**

"**Shut up, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth laughed.**

"Died? No. Did the West die? The gods simply moved, to Germany, to France, to Spain, for a while.  
Wherever the flame was brightest, the gods were there. They spent several centuries in England. All you  
need to do is look at the architecture. People do not forget the gods. Every place they've ruled, for the  
last three thousand years, you can see them in paintings, in statues, on the most important buildings. And  
yes, Percy, of course they are now in your United States.

"**Why did he call it **_**your**_** United States," Reyna said,**

**Percy shrugged, though he was obviously pleased by this.**

Look at your symbol, the eagle of Zeus. Look  
at the statue of Prometheus in Rockefeller Center, the Greek facades of your government buildings in  
Washington. I defy you to find any American city where the Olympians are not prominently displayed in  
multiple places. Like it or not—and believe me, plenty of people weren't very fond of Rome,  
either

**Reyna and Jason frowned, though they knew this was true.**

—America is now the heart of the flame. It is the great power of the West. And so Olympus is  
here. And we are here."  
It was all too much, especially the fact that I seemed to be included in Chiron's we, as if I were part of  
some club.  
"Who are you, Chiron? Who ... who am I?"

"**Percy Jackson," Aphrodite said. "Son of Poseidon, and next main character to my entertaining love story."**

**Percy frowned. "I'll just go with Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, thanks."**

**Aphrodite shrugged with a pretty little bemused smile on her lips. "Either way, what I say goes."**

Chiron smiled. He shifted his weight as if he were going to get up out of his wheelchair, but I knew that  
was impossible.

"**It's possible," Annabeth and Grover said.**

He was paralyzed from the waist down.  
"Who are you?" he mused. "Well, that's the question we all want answered, isn't it? But for now, we  
should get you a bunk in cabin eleven. There will be new friends to meet. And plenty of time for lessons  
tomorrow. Besides, there will be s'mores at the campfire tonight, and I simply adore chocolate."  
And then he did rise from his wheelchair. But there was something odd about the way he did it. His  
blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn't move. His waist kept getting longer, rising above his  
belt. At first, I thought he was wearing very long, white velvet underwear, but as he kept rising out of the  
chair, taller than any man, I realized that the velvet underwear wasn't underwear; it was the front of an  
animal, muscle and sinew under coarse white fur.

"**Whoa," Percy said. He had been laughing at 'velvet underwear', but now that he heard of Chiron's horse legs, he was eager to see him. "Cool."**

"**Tell him that," Annabeth said. "He loves compliments."**

And the wheelchair wasn't a chair. It was some kind of  
container, an enormous box on wheels, and it must've been magic, because there's no way it could've  
held all of him.

"**I think the Hephaestus cabin made that for him," Annabeth said.**

"**Hephaestus?" Percy said. "You mean the god of blacksmiths?"**

"**Yes," Annabeth pointed to his dangerous looking throne. "You shouldn't mess with his children; they **_**know**_** how to make payback."**

**Percy took her word for it.**

A leg came out, long and knobby-kneed, with a huge polished hoof. Then another front  
leg, then hindquarters, and then the box was empty, nothing but a metal shell with a couple of fake human  
legs attached.  
I stared at the horse who had just sprung from the wheelchair: a huge white stallion. But where its neck  
should be was the upper body of my Latin teacher, smoothly grafted to the horse's trunk.  
"What a relief," the centaur said. "I'd been cooped up in there so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep.  
Now, come, Percy Jackson. Let's meet the other campers."

"**Once again," Percy said. "He is so casual about it."**

"**These are things we see and do every day, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said. "How are we **_**supposed**_** to act?"**

"**Not surprised when I'm surprised," Percy said, and then when everyone stared at him he just sighed and said. "I'm hungry. Can we eat?"**

"**Of course," Athena nodded. "Follow me."**


	6. I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom

"**Who wants to read next?" Reyna asked.**

**All the gods looked at each other, none of them wanting to shrink to human size to read the books. Annabeth, inspecting each of their faces, sighed inwardly.**

"**I guess I'll read again," she said, and Reyna gave her the book.**

I BECOME SUPREME LORD  
OF THE BATHROOM

**Grover laughed. "Having a stomach problem, Perce?"**

**Percy shook his head. His chapter titles were really beginning to confuse him. Why couldn't they be like the ones in his textbooks? Short and straight to the point.**

Once I got over the fact that my Latin teacher was a horse,

"**And how long did that take?" Jason said.**

**Percy shrugged. "This hasn't happened yet. I wouldn't know."**

we had a nice tour, though I was careful not  
to walk behind him. I'd done pooper-scooper patrol in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a few  
times, and, I'm sorry, I did not trust Chiron's back end the way I trusted his front.

"**He would probably shoot an arrow through you for saying that, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth informed him. "He hates how Mortals use horses for things as stupid as parades."**

"**Good to know, Wise Girl," Percy said.**

**Annabeth grimaced at him.**

We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the minotaur  
horn I was carrying. Another said, "That's him."

**Percy felt a grin widen on his futures, but it deflated when Artemis scoffed, "Way to inflate his already over large head."**

"**My heads not big," Percy mumbled, though not loud enough for Artemis to hear – something told him if he talked back to her he would be dead before he could say 'sorry'.**

Most of the campers were older than me. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them  
trotting around in orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy  
hindquarters. I wasn't normally shy, but the way they stared at me made me uncomfortable. I felt like they  
were expecting me to do a flip or something.

"**No," Grover said. "They are staring at you to see how a little runt like you can fight a Minotaur but they never even had a chance."**

"**Hey!" Percy said. "Didn't you hear the book? All the satyrs are bigger then you, Goat Boy."**

"**Blah-ha-ha!" Grover bleated. "I thought we were sticking to G-Man!"**

"**That changed when you called me a runt," Percy shrugged.**

I looked back at the farmhouse. It was a lot bigger than I'd realized—four stories tall, sky blue with  
white trim, like an upscale seaside resort. I was checking out the brass eagle weather vane on top when  
something caught my eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. Something had moved  
the curtain, just for a second, and I got the distinct impression I was being watched.

"**The Oracle doesn't usually move," Grover said shakily. The thought of that **_**thing**_** moving was frightening.**

"**So it **_**is**_** him," Annabeth said, her smile triumphant. "And I can finally have my chance!"**

"**What are you two talking about?" Percy said suspiciously.**

**Annabeth opened her mouth to tell him but the gods were giving her a warning glare, so she shut her mouth. "Nothing you need to know, Seaweed Brain."**

**Percy thought she sounded convincing enough, but he knew a lie when he heard one, and she was **_**definitely**_** lying."**

"What's up there?" I asked Chiron.  
He looked where I was pointing, and his smile faded. "Just the attic."  
"Somebody lives there?"  
"No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing."

"**Why did he say it like that?" Percy asked. "'Not a single living thing.' Why didn't he just say no one lives up there?"**

**Annabeth and Grover glanced at each other.**

"**He's weird, Perce," Grover said. "He says stuff like that."**

**Percy wasn't entirely convinced, but he knew he wouldn't get an answer so he gave up… for now.**

I got the feeling he was being truthful. But I was also sure something had moved that curtain.  
"Come along, Percy," Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."  
We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr  
played a tune on a reed pipe.

"**That's the Demeter cabin and the undetermined," Annabeth said. "And a satyr."**

"**Undetermined?" Percy said, confused.**

"**The ones whose godly parent didn't claim them," Annabeth explained. "They tend to stick with the cabins they are closest to, but at the end of the day they go to the Hermes cabin, still waiting to be claimed."**

"**Why don't their parents just claim them?" Percy said.**

**Annabeth shrugged. "Sometimes the gods don't want to claim them."**

"**That's stupid," Percy said, glancing at the gods who were all watching him with narrowed eyes. "If you had the time to give birth to them – or **_**think**_** them out of your head, in Athena's case – then you should at least admit that they are your children. You're gods, you should behave fairly."**

**Zeus got to his feet, his expression stormy. He hadn't had kids in a long time, but to see a mere demigod disrespecting the name of gods so openly made him want-**

"**Zeus!" Artemis said, running between him and Percy. "The boy has a point, Zeus. He is only speaking the truth."**

**No one was more surprised than Percy when she stood up for him. He had the feeling that she was sickened by the mere presence of him, but here she was, standing between him and a raging god so he won't be killed.**

"**The Hermes cabin has been rebuilt to enlarge the place too many times," Artemis said. "It's time you claim your children. All of you."**

**All the gods had the grace to look guilty, but only one had a look of pride on his face – and that was Poseidon.**

**Jason was staring at Percy, wondering how he could say that. In his camp, you had to respect each god – except for the ones they didn't like – so to disrespect them so openly and **_**not**_** get killed was a large feet in his eyes.**

Chiron told me the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. "It  
pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."  
He said Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It  
worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries  
instead.

**The gods were laughing.**

"**I bet he loves that," Ares chuckled.**

"**Poor Dionysus," Aphrodite laughed. "**_**Strawberries**_**, really?"**

**Annabeth frowned. No wonder Mr. D was so bitter, if his family treats him like **_**this**_**…**

I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in  
every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire. I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with  
music.

"**Yes, I can," Grover said proudly.**

**Percy looked impressed but the look faded when he seen Annabeth shaking her head slowly, so Grover won't notice.**

I wondered if he was still inside the farmhouse, getting chewed out by Mr. D.

**Grover's proud look broke and he cringed, almost against his will. "Aw, man."**

"Grover won't get in too much trouble, will he?" I asked Chiron. "I mean ... he was a good protector.  
Really."

"**Thanks," Grover said, but he still looked sad and scared.**

Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horses back like a saddle. "Grover has  
big dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable.

"**They **_**are**_** reasonable!" Grover said. "All you have to do is give me my license!"**

**Annabeth put a hand on his shoulder in comfort.**

To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great  
courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing him

"**Or her," Reyna put in.**

safely to Half-Blood Hill."

"**But he did that!" Percy said.**

"**He didn't really," Reyna said. "He told you a monster was coming, your mom took you guys close enough, and **_**you**_** dragged him across the property line."**

**Grover sniffled and Reyna looked shocked that she said that.**

"**I'm sorry, Grover, it's just-"**

"**The truth," Grover said bitterly.**

**Annabeth sent a glare in Reyna's direction.**

"But he did that!"  
"I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of  
Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover  
lost you in New York. Then there's the unfortunate ... ah ... fate of your mother. And the fact that Grover  
was unconscious when you dragged him over the property line. The council might question whether this  
shows any courage on Grover's part."  
I wanted to protest. None of what happened was Grover's fault. I also felt really, really guilty. If I hadn't  
given Grover the slip at the bus station, he might not have gotten in trouble.

"**It's not your fault," Grover said. "I was freaking you out."**

"**Still," Percy said guiltily. "You're my best friend and I ditched you when you were scared – that's **_**really**_** messed up."**

"He'll get a second chance, won't he?"

**Grover and Annabeth winced.**

Chiron winced. "I'm afraid that was Grover's second chance, Percy. The council was not anxious to give  
him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago. Olympus knows, I advised him to  
wait longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age... ."  
"How old is he?"  
"Oh, twenty-eight."

"**What!" Percy said, the only one shocked. He looked at Grover, "And you're in the sixth grade?"**

**Grover smiled wryly. "I **_**should**_** be in the seventh."**

"What! And he's in sixth grade?"  
"Satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Percy. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student  
for the past six years."  
"That's horrible."

"**No it's not," Grover said.**

"**Yes it is," Percy told him.**

"Quite," Chiron agreed. "At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and not yet very  
accomplished at woodland magic.

**Grover looked down at the floor.**

Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find  
some other career... ."  
"That's not fair," I said. "What happened the first time? Was it really so bad?"

"**Very," Grover mumbled.**

"_**You**_** did nothing wrong, Grover," Annabeth said. "And she would say the same thing."**

**Percy didn't know who 'she' was, but what Annabeth said seemed to make Grover feel better, because he smiled.**

Chiron looked away quickly. "Let's move along, shall we?"  
But I wasn't quite ready to let the subject drop. Something had occurred to me when Chiron talked  
about my mother's fate, as if he were intentionally avoiding the word death.

**Percy frowned. "Why would he do that…?"**

"**Maybe he doesn't really think that your mom died," Annabeth said. "Or maybe he doesn't want to say death because he thinks you'll feel bad."**

"**I think it's the first," Percy grinned. "And if she didn't **_**really**_** die, then…"**

**He didn't finish his sentence, because he knew everyone would think he was crazy for even mentioning it.**

The beginnings of an idea—a  
tiny, hopeful fire—started forming in my mind.  
"Chiron," I said. "If the gods and Olympus and all that are real ..."  
"Yes, child?"  
"Does that mean the Underworld is real, too?"

"**Oh," Annabeth said. "Percy, I don't think that you should think like that. Most demigods went insane in the Underworld, trying to find loved ones that they would never **_**really**_** be able to reach."**

"**I'm not 'most demigods'," Percy said.**

"**Yes, you are," Annabeth said. "So drop the thought. It's not possible."**

**Percy didn't argue, but he didn't drop the thought.**

Chiron's expression darkened.  
"Yes, child." He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. "There is a place where spirits go after  
death. But for now ... until we know more ... I would urge you to put that out of your mind."

"**He doesn't believe my Mom died," Percy said, this time for certain.**

**Annabeth shrugged, agreeing with him.**

"What do you mean, 'until we know more'?"  
"Come, Percy. Let's see the woods."  
As we got closer, I realized how huge the forest was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with  
trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.  
Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."  
"Stocked with what?" I asked. "Armed with what?"  
"You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?"

"**Who brings their own sword to camp?" Percy said.**

"**I did," Annabeth said. "Well… a dagger."**

"**Who brings their own shield?" Percy asked.**

"**Thalia did," Grover said.**

"**Thalia… the tree?"**

"**Just forget it, Percy." Annabeth sighed.**

"My own—?"  
"No," Chiron said. "I don't suppose you do. I think a size five will do. I'll visit the armory later."  
I wanted to ask what kind of summer camp had an armory, but there was too much else to think about,  
so the tour continued. We saw the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables (which Chiron didn't  
seem to like very much),

"**Gee, I wonder why," Jason said.**

the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater, and the arena where Chiron said  
they held sword and spear fights.

"**Sword and spear fights?" Percy repeated. "Okay, that's it, forget what I said about Half-Bloods are cool."**

"**What?" Jason said. "Just because of the spear fights? Those are the best things about being a Half-Blood."**

"**You're crazy," Percy informed him.**

"Sword and spear fights?" I asked.  
"Cabin challenges and all that," he explained. "Not lethal. Usually.

"**Usually," Percy repeated weakly.**

Oh, yes, and there's the mess hall."  
Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea.  
There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.

"**What do you do when it rains?" Percy asked.**

"**We still have to eat, don't we?" Grover said, giving Percy a weird look.**

**Annabeth smirked. "We eat, Percy. That's all we do."**

"**Even if it rains?"**

"**Yes."**

"What do you do when it rains?" I asked.  
Chiron looked at me as if I'd gone a little weird. "We still have to eat, don't we?"

"**Déjà vu," Percy grumbled.**

I decided to drop the  
subject.  
Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They  
were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were without doubt  
the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen.

"**Bizarre?" Ares repeated. "How so?"**

"**I don't know," Percy said. "I haven't seen it yet."**

"**I think he means that they are all totally different from each other," Annabeth said, after all, that's what she had thought when **_**she **_**first arrived there.**

Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on  
the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike.

"**See?"**

Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory.

"**Hephaestus," Annabeth said. "The Athena cabin **_**loves**_** to have them on their side for Capture the Flag.**

Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass.

"**Demeter cabin," Grover said with a dreamy smile.**

"**Do you have a girlfriend their or something?" Percy asked.**

**Grover blushed. "No…"**

**He wished he had, though.**

Seven seemed to be made  
of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at.

"**Apollo cabin," Annabeth said. "The Athena cabin likes to have them on their team, and the Ares cabin does too, but they are more into hand battle rather then staying in the back and shooting a bunch of arrows."**

"**As they should," Ares said proudly.**

They all faced a  
commons area about the size of a soccer field, dot-ted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a  
couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed).

"**Normal stuff," Percy grinned in relief. "Good."**

In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined fire pit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth  
smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.

"**Who is she?" Percy said.**

"**That's Lady Hestia," Artemis said. "Goddess of the hearth."**

"**She just sits there tending to the hearth?" Percy asked.**

"**She's important," Artemis said her voice dangerous. "Don't underestimate her."**

The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums,  
big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the  
twelve.

**Zeus smiled proudly. Poseidon rolled his eyes.**

Its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts  
seemed to streak across them. Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded  
with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.

"**Zeus and Hera?" Percy said.**

"Zeus and Hera?" I guessed.

"**You don't change much, do you?" Aphrodite said.**

**Percy just shrugged.**

"Correct," Chiron said.  
"Their cabins look empty."  
"Several of the cabins are. That's true. No one ever stays in one or two."  
Okay. So each cabin had a different god, like a mascot.

"**That's one way to put it," Athena said.**

Twelve cabins for the twelve Olympians. But  
why would some be empty?

"**Some were supposed to not have children," Artemis sent a glare in Poseidon's and Zeus' direction. "And some made an oath to never have children."**

"**Oh," Percy frowned.**

I stopped in front of the first cabin on the left, cabin three.  
It wasn't high and mighty like cabin one,

"**Of course not," Zeus grinned. "I'm much more important."**

"**So he tells himself," Poseidon grinned when the demigods suppressed laughs.**

but long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray  
stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of  
the ocean floor.

"**They have," Poseidon said.**

"**Cool," Percy smiled.**

I peeked inside the open doorway and Chiron said, "Oh, I wouldn't do that!"  
Before he could pull me back, I caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore at  
Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets turned  
down. But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there. The place felt so sad and lonely, I was glad  
when Chiron put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Come along, Percy."

"**It should be full," Poseidon threw an irritated look in Zeus' direction.**

"**It **_**should**_** be empty," Zeus said back. "But you just had to go star struck by a Mortal."**

"**I held out longer then you," Poseidon argued.**

"**But I dealt with my mistake," Zeus said.**

Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers.  
Number five was bright red

"**Ares cabin," Annabeth said. "The Athena cabin likes to go against them. God of war against goddess of war. Athena usually wins."**

**Athena shot a smug look in Ares' direction.**

"**Why?" Percy said.**

"**Because Athena has battle tactics **_**and **_**wisdom," Annabeth said smugly.**

"**Oh, right…"**

—a real nasty paint job, as if the color had been splashed on with buckets  
and fists.

"**We don't got time to act pretty," Ares said.**

"**There is always time to look pretty," Aphrodite said.**

The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its  
eyes seemed to follow me. Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm  
wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared.

**Ares couldn't have looked anymore proud.**

The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or  
fourteen. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. She  
zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer. She reminded me of Nancy Bobofit, though the camper girl  
was much bigger and tougher looking, and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red.

"**Who's that?" Percy asked Annabeth.**

**Annabeth shrugged. "Lots of Ares' daughters look like that."**

I kept walking, trying to stay clear of Chiron's hooves. "We haven't seen any other centaurs," I  
observed.  
"No," said Chiron sadly. "My kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid. You might encounter  
them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events. But you won't see any here."  
"You said your name was Chiron. Are you really ..."  
He smiled down at me. "The Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Hercules and all that? Yes, Percy, I  
am."

"**Someone has an ego," Reyna said.**

"**When you've done that much, you're allowed to," Annabeth said.**

"But, shouldn't you be dead?"  
Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. "I honestly don't know about should be. The truth is, I  
can't be dead. You see, eons ago the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could  
be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. I gained much from that wish ... and I gave up  
much. But I'm still here, so I can only assume I'm still needed."  
I thought about being a teacher for three thousand years. It wouldn't have made my Top Ten Things to  
Wish For list.

"**Definitely not," Percy agreed with his future self.**

"Doesn't it ever get boring?"  
"No, no," he said. "Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring."  
"Why depressing?"  
Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing again.

"**Imagine training a bunch of heroes," Annabeth said. "Growing fond of them against your will, and then they go into battle and die."**

**Percy frowned, that **_**did **_**sound depressing.**

"Oh, look," he said. "Annabeth is waiting for us."

* * *  
The blond girl I'd met at the Big House

"**We've met before!" Annabeth said furiously. "And he's introduced us! Why do you keep **_**calling**_** me that?"**

**Percy shrugged. "Sorry?"**

"**Sorry doesn't cut it, Seaweed Brain."**

"**I'm super sorry?"**

was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number  
eleven.  
When we reached her, she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I  
drooled.

**Aphrodite grinned. "She **_**so **_**has a crush on you."**

**Annabeth blushed.**

I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn't make out the title. I thought my dyslexia was acting  
up. Then I realized the title wasn't even English. The letters looked Greek to me. I mean, literally Greek.  
There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture  
book.

"**It is an architecture book, most likely," Annabeth said. "I barely read anything else."**

"**Why?" Percy asked.**

"**I'm going to be an architect when I grow older," Annabeth said proudly, earning a smile from her mother.**

"**Really?" Percy couldn't help but smile.**

**Annabeth narrowed her eyes at his smile. "Got a problem?"**

"**No, not at all, Wise Girl," Percy said.**

"Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"  
"Yes, sir."  
"Cabin eleven," Chiron told me, gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home."  
Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis  
on old. The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was one of those  
doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. What did they call it... ?

"**A caduceus," Athena said. "Hermes is proud of it – though it annoys him sometimes."**

"**Right…" Percy didn't know what to say to that.**

A  
caduceus.  
Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds.  
Sleeping bags were spread all over on the floor. It looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an  
evacuation center.

"**Don't let Hermes hear you say that," Poseidon warned, he didn't want his son to have **_**more**_** people to hate him – he already had Zeus and Hades and Athena.**

Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and  
bowed respectfully.  
"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner."  
He galloped away toward the archery range.  
I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at me,  
sizing me up. I knew this routine. I'd gone through it at enough schools.

"**And what did they make of you?" Ares asked.**

**Percy shrugged. "They were okay with me, until I made friends with the people they picked on."**

"**It's like you **_**ask**_** for trouble," Athena said.**

"Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on."  
So naturally I tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of myself.

**Everyone was snickering.**

"**This is the kid of the prophecy?" Ares snorted.**

"**What prophecy?" Percy demanded, more anxious to change the subject then anything.**

"**The prophecy you will not know about until due time," Poseidon sent a glare in Ares' direction. "Continue, Annabeth."**

There were some snickers  
from the campers, but none of them said anything.  
Annabeth announced, "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven.  
"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.  
I didn't know what to say, but Annabeth said, "Undetermined."

"**What do they mean 'regular'?" Percy asked.**

"**The children of minor gods," Annabeth said.**

"**Why don't they have their own cabins?" Percy wondered.**

"**Because only the major gods can have cabins," Zeus said. "Just like only the major gods can have thrones on Olympus."**

"**Isn't that a bit unfair?" Percy said.**

"**Not everything is fair, Percy Jackson," Athena said. "Some things just are, you have to leave them be."**

**Percy didn't agree with this, but he couldn't object because Annabeth was already reading.**

Everybody groaned.  
A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward. "Now, now, campers. That's what we're here  
for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there."  
The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped  
sandy hair and a friendly smile.

"**Who's he?" Percy asked.**

"**Again," Annabeth said. "I don't know. But I'm guessing he's one of Hermes' children, most of them look like that."**

He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with  
five different-colored clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar  
that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash.

"**Do all of Hermes' children have a weird scar on their face?" Percy asked.**

**Annabeth grimaced at him. "That's Luke, my friend."**

"This is Luke," Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different somehow. I glanced over and could've  
sworn she was blushing.

**Percy smirked at her.**

**Annabeth was blushing now, and she was looking everywhere but Percy's eyes. "Shut up, Seaweed Brain."**

"**Ooh!" Aphrodite said. "Luke can be the third in the love triangle!"**

"**Uh, I don't **_**love**_** Annabeth," Percy said.**

"**Sure you don't," Aphrodite smirked.**

"**I don't!"**

"**Shush, son of Poseidon."**

She saw me looking, and her expression hardened again. "He's your counselor  
for now."  
"For now?" I asked.  
"You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're  
here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god  
of travelers."  
I looked at the tiny section of floor they'd given me. I had nothing to put there to mark it as my own, no  
luggage, no clothes, no sleeping bag. Just the Minotaur's horn. I thought about setting that down, but then  
I remembered that Hermes was also the god of thieves.

"**They were probably waiting for you to put it down," Grover grumbled. "They love stealing from me."**

"**You have to show them that you are not to be messed with," Annabeth said. "Duh."**

I looked around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious, some grinning stupidly, some eyeing  
me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets.

"**Those would be Hermes' kids," Annabeth said.**

"How long will I be here?" I asked.  
"Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined."

"**Well, **_**that's**_** a good answer," Percy said sarcastically.**

"**It is," Annabeth said. "The gods don't actually have a schedule for when they claim their children."**

"**Still, he should have explained it better."**

"How long will that take?"

"**Di Immortales, Percy," Annabeth said. "I thought you said that you went through the routine before!"**

"**I did," Percy said defiantly.**

"**Well, then you should do better," Annabeth said. "Everyone's going to laugh at you."**

"**Why?" Percy demanded. "It was just a question."**

"**It was a stupid question," Annabeth said. "Gods, you're such a Seaweed Brain."**

The campers all laughed.  
"Come on," Annabeth told me. "I'll show you the volleyball court."  
"I've already seen it."  
"Come on." She grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside. I could hear the kids of cabin eleven  
laughing behind me.  
When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."

"**Ooh, last name," Ares grinned. "Tough luck, kid."**

"**Shut up," Percy told him, then turned to Annabeth. "What's with you? You're acting like a jerk."**

**Annabeth glared at him. "No I'm not! You're acting like an idiot!"**

"**I have no idea what's happening!" Percy said back. "Maybe if someone sat me down and **_**explained**_** things to me better then I wouldn't be so confused."**

**Annabeth just glowered and began to read.**

"What?"  
She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."

"**Oh, he will be," Aphrodite mumbled to herself. "She just won't know that until he's down on one knee proposing – but they have **_**a lot **_**to go through before that happens."**

"What's your problem?" I was getting angry now. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy—"  
"Don't talk like that!" Annabeth told me. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your  
chance?"  
"To get killed?"  
"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"

"**To survive," Grover said. "Not to fight monsters, to survive, Annabeth. You of all people should know that."**

**Annabeth looked down. She knew this, but she still wanted revenge on all those monsters for taking Thalia away from her, and she knew Luke felt the same way.**

I shook my head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one in the stories ..."  
"Yes."  
"Then there's only one."  
"Yes."  
"And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right?

"**Gajillion isn't a word," Athena said to him. "Gazillion is, though."**

"**Good to know," Percy said.**

Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So ..."  
"Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."  
"Oh, thanks. That clears it up."

"They don't have souls, like you and me.

"**They don't?" Percy looked unnerved by that. **

"**No," Annabeth said.**

You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole  
lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they  
re-form."  
I thought about Mrs. Dodds. "You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword—"

"**Yeah, that was by accident," Jason said.**

**Percy shrugged, but he was grinning.**

"The Fur ... I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very  
mad."

"**I seem to have a knack for making people mad," Percy said thoughtfully.**

"**That's nothing to be proud of," Athena said. "If you want to survive, you have to be diplomatic."**

"**Says the goddess who turned a woman into a spider just because she did something better then you," Percy grumbled, too low for Athena to hear. But Annabeth heard, and she punched him hard on the shoulder before reading.**

"How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"  
"You talk in your sleep."  
"You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"  
Annabeth glanced nervously at the ground, as if she expected it to open up and swallow her.

"**No," Annabeth shook her head. "I most likely thought it would open up and swallow **_**you**_**."**

"**Thanks for telling me that, Wise Girl."**

"You  
shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at  
all."  
"Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?" I sounded whiny, even to myself, but right  
then I didn't care.

"**It is getting kind of old," Reyna admitted, but when the gods glared at her she said hastily, "Just agreeing to what he said – glare at him."**

"**Thanks," Percy scoffed at her, to which she just sent him a smile.**

"Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded  
together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there."  
I pointed to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turned pale. "You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It  
depends on who your parents are. Or ... your parent."  
She stared at me, waiting for me to get it.

"**That's going to take a while," Artemis said. "Boys are always slow on the uptake."**

"**That's a bit unfair," Percy said.**

"**It's the truth," Artemis said. "Why do you think the wisdom belongs to a **_**goddess**_**? That's Athena's category. There is no god of wisdom. And not to mention she's a maiden, so she wasn't corrupted by a man like Aphrodite."**

**Aphrodite rolled her eyes. **

"My mom is Sally Jackson," I said. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she  
used to."  
"I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your  
dad."  
"He's dead. I never knew him."  
Annabeth sighed. Clearly, she'd had this conversation before with other kids.

"**Thanks for being so sympathetic," Percy said drily.**

**Annabeth just shrugged. "You'll be doing the same thing if you've been there as long as I have."**

"Your father's not dead,  
Percy."  
"How can you say that? You know him?"  
"No, of course not."  
"Then how can you say—"  
"Because I know you. You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."  
"You don't know anything about me."  
"No?" She raised an eyebrow. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked  
out of a lot of them."  
"How—"  
"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."  
I tried to swallow my embarrassment.

"**I'm guessing there is no goddess of tact," Percy said.**

**Artemis glared at him. "No… but there is no **_**god**_** of tact either."**

"**Come to think of it," Jason frowned. "That would be a pretty lame god."**

**Everyone else agreed.**

"What does that have to do with anything?"  
"Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's  
because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD—you're impulsive, can't sit still in the  
classroom. That's your battle-field reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention  
problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular  
mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you  
seeing them for what they are."

"**Monsters are disgusting," Reyna said.**

"You sound like ... you went through the same thing?"  
"Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the  
ambrosia and nectar."  
"Ambrosia and nectar."  
"The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It  
would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead.

"**That's cheerful," Percy shivered.**

"**That's the truth," Annabeth said. "And that's what would have happened to Grover."**

"**Thanks for the reminder, Annabeth," Grover said.**

Face it. You're a  
half-blood."  
A half-blood.  
I was reeling with so many questions I didn't know where to start.  
Then a husky voice yelled, "Well! A newbie!"

"**Sounds like an Ares child," Annabeth said wearily. "They like making an – uh – **_**ceremony**_** for the new campers."**

**Percy didn't like the way she said ceremony.**

I looked over. The big girl from the ugly red cabin was sauntering toward us. She had three other girls  
behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets.  
"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed.

"**Oh, it's Clarisse," Annabeth said. "Be careful with her, Percy. She's the worst."**

"**She's the best," Ares said.**

"Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"  
"Sure, Miss Princess," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."

"**Ha!" Athena laughed. "Your children don't stand a chance!"**

"**And I suppose **_**yours**_** will?" Ares demanded. "My children are **_**made**_** for war!"**

"**My children are made for war **_**and**_** battle," Athena said. "Meaning, they **_**always**_** win."**

"**We'll see about that," Ares said.**

''Erre es korakas!" Annabeth said, which I somehow under-stood was Greek for 'Go to the crows!'  
though I had a feeling it was a worse curse than it sounded. "You don't stand a chance."  
"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Perhaps she wasn't sure she could follow  
through on the threat.

"**Of course she can't," Annabeth said smugly.**

"**Oh, she will," Ares said. "She's not scared of you, runt."**

**Annabeth looked insulted. "Did you just call me a runt?"**

**Ares grinned evilly at her, so she just started to read again.**

She turned toward me. "Who's this little runt?"

"**Like father like daughter," Poseidon said drily.**

"Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, "meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."  
I blinked. "Like ... the war god?"  
Clarisse sneered. "You got a problem with that?"  
"No," I said, recovering my wits. "It explains the bad smell."

**Jason looked at him with wide eyes. "My whole legion would run you through with their swords for saying that. Mars is one of our favorite gods, other than Jupiter."**

"**I don't think I like your camp much, then," Percy said.**

Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."  
"Percy."  
"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."  
"Clarisse—" Annabeth tried to say.  
"Stay out of it, wise girl."

**Annabeth looked expectantly at Percy.**

"**What?" Percy said.**

"**Aren't you going to change my nickname?" Annabeth demanded.**

"**No," Percy grinned. "The fact that Clarisse came up with it too is going to make you even more annoyed by it. I'm starting to **_**love**_** this nickname."**

**Annabeth glared. "I changed **_**yours**_**."**

**Percy just shrugged. "No one said I was going to be fair."**

Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it, and I didn't really want her help. I was the new kid. I  
had to earn my own rep.  
I handed Annabeth my minotaur horn

"**I could steal it," Annabeth told him.**

"**I trust you," Percy said, making Annabeth go red.**

and got ready to fight, but before I knew it, Clarisse had me by  
the neck and was dragging me toward a cinder-block building that I knew immediately was the  
bathroom.

"**No way," Percy said, revolted. Of course, people had **_**tried**_** to stick his head in a toilet, but they hadn't succeeded. But those kids hadn't been children of the war god.**

"**And you're not going to help him?" Jason asked Annabeth.**

"**It would be stupid if I did," Annabeth said. "It would make the Ares cabin more determined to beat us for Capture the Flag."**

**Athena nodded in approval.**

"**That's more important than helping a friend?" Jason looked confused but no one answered.**

I was kicking and punching. I'd been in plenty of fights before, but this big girl Clarisse had hands like  
iron. She dragged me into the girls' bathroom.

"**Why the **_**girls'**_** bathroom?" Percy groaned.**

"**Your head is about to be stuck in a toilet and all you care about is that it's a **_**girls**_**' toilet?" Artemis demanded.**

**Percy just shrugged, still bothered by this.**

There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower  
stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public bathroom, and I was thinking—as much as I could  
think with Clarisse ripping my hair out—that if this place belonged to the gods, they should've been able  
to afford classier johns.

**The gods sent him annoyed looks. All except Poseidon, who was grinning like mad. Clarisse was in for a **_**big **_**surprise.**

Clarisse's friends were all laughing, and I was trying to find the strength I'd used to fight the Minotaur,  
but it just wasn't there.  
"Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse said as she pushed me toward one of the toilets. "Yeah, right.  
Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."

**Ares and Poseidon chuckled in anticipation.**

Her friends snickered.  
Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers.  
Clarisse bent me over on my knees and started pushing my head toward the toilet bowl. It reeked like  
rusted pipes and, well, like what goes into toilets. I strained to keep my head up. I was looking at the  
scummy water, thinking, I will not go into that. I won't.  
Then something happened. I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach. I heard the plumbing rumble, the pipes  
shudder. Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over my  
head, and the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarisse screaming behind  
me.

"**Ha!" Poseidon laughed.**

**Ares' face was red with anger. "Don't act so cocky now, Poseidon. Wait until my children pound him to a pulp during Capture the Flag."**

I turned just as water blasted out of the toilet again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed  
her down onto her butt. The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backward  
into a shower stall.  
She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming toward her. But then the other toilets exploded,  
too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back. The showers acted up, too, and together all  
the fixtures sprayed the camouflage girls right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of  
garbage being washed away.

**Percy was laughing now, and as Annabeth read a plan was forming in her head – a plan she would do in the next Capture the Flag. She would have to make Percy do this again, so she could use him as bait…**

As soon as they were out the door, I felt the tug in my gut lessen, and the water shut off as quickly as it  
had started.  
The entire bathroom was flooded. Annabeth hadn't been spared.

**Athena, who had an impressed look on her face, glowered.**

"**If you think about it," Jason said reasonably. "That's what she gets for not helping him."**

**Now Annabeth was glowering.**

She was dripping wet, but she hadn't  
been pushed out the door. She was standing in exactly the same place, staring at me in shock.

"**So she must have been just wet as the water sprayed passed her," Poseidon said.**

**The glowers of Athena and Annabeth lessened, but only slightly.**

I looked down and realized I was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. There was a circle of  
dry floor around me. I didn't have one drop of water on my clothes. Nothing.

"**You can clean our toilets when you go there," Grover said. "Put it down a drain or something."**

**Percy didn't like the thought, but Annabeth was nodding with Grover.**

I stood up, my legs shaky.  
Annabeth said, "How did you ..."  
"I don't know."  
We walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of  
other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her  
camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage.

"**Ew," Aphrodite said prettily.**

She gave me a look of absolute hatred.  
"You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."  
I probably should have let it go, but I said, "You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close  
your mouth."

"**That's good," Annabeth smiled. "Taunt her. It'll make her angrier, easier to manipulate."**

**Athena looked at her daughter and smiled, she knew what she was thinking.**

"**Let me guess," Jason said. "You're going to use him as bait."**

**Annabeth just smiled.**

Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made  
way to avoid her flailing feet.  
Annabeth stared at me. I couldn't tell whether she was just grossed out or angry at me for dousing her.

"**Neither," Annabeth said.**

"**So that's your thinking face?" Percy couldn't help but laugh.**

**Annabeth just glared at him.**

"**What are you thinking?"**

"**Nothing! I'm just mad at you, Seaweed Brain."**

"**Oh…"**

"What?" I demanded. "What are you thinking?"  
"I'm thinking," she said, "that I want you on my team for capture the flag."

"**It seems I don't change much," Annabeth said, then gave the book to Percy. "Your turn."**


	7. My Dinner Goes up in Smoke

**Percy cleared his throat and began to read.**

MY DINNER GOES  
UP IN SMOKE

"**Will I get to eat it first?" Percy asked.**

"**You'll get to eat a part of it," Annabeth answered.**

Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately.

"**Of course it did," Annabeth said. "The camp must be uneventful, so they are grasping on whatever gossip they can get."**

Wherever I went, campers pointed at me and  
murmured something about toilet water. Or maybe they were just staring at Annabeth, who was still  
pretty much dripping wet.

**Annabeth and Athena wrinkled their noses at this reminder.**

She showed me a few more places: the metal shop (where kids were forging their own swords), the  
arts-and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man),

"**Blah-ha-ha!" Grover bleated. "Goat-man? You humans! You warship gods but when it comes to a **_**goat**_** god, you forget him!"**

"**What are you talking about?" Percy said. "How can a goat-man be a god?"**

"**That's Pan," Poseidon said, to save his son from further confusion. "All satyrs worship him. Unfortunately, he went missing and satyrs have been searching for him ever since."**

"**And I'm going to be the first ever satyr to find him," Grover said, puffing out his thin chest and showing everyone his proud expression.**

and the  
climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders,  
sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough.

"**Can't that kill you?" Percy said.**

"**Not if you get to the top fast enough," Annabeth said.**

Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins.  
"I've got training to do," Annabeth said flatly. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess  
hall."  
"Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets."  
"Whatever."  
"It wasn't my fault."

**Everyone looked at him skeptically.**

"**Hey, I didn't do that…yet," Percy said. "So don't look at me like that."**

She looked at me skeptically, and I realized it was my fault. I'd made water shoot out of the bathroom  
fixtures. I didn't understand how. But the toilets had responded to me. I had become one with the  
plumbing.

**Ares snorted.**

"You need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth said.  
"Who?"  
"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."  
I stared into the lake, wishing somebody would give me a straight answer for once.

"**Thank you!" Percy said. "**_**Someone**_** understands my confusion, at least."**

"**That **_**someone**_** is yourself, Percy," Jason said. "I'm not sure if you should be so relieved."**

**Percy looked deflated.**

I wasn't expecting anybody to be looking back at me from the bottom, so my heart skipped a beat when  
I noticed two teenage girls sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below. They  
wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their  
shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They smiled and waved as if I were a long-lost friend.  
I didn't know what else to do. I waved back.

"Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned. "Naiads are terrible flirts."

"**Someone's jealous," Aphrodite sang. "Maybe I can fit a fourth member in your love triangle. Luke for Annabeth and someone for Percy… this someone has to be pretty and the exact opposite of Annabeth… Percy, what's your type?"**

**Percy didn't feel like answering so he began to read again.**

"Naiads," I repeated, feeling completely overwhelmed. "That's it. I want to go home now."

"**So, it's not that your dad is a god, or the lava climbing wall that makes you want to go home… it's the water girls?" Jason was trying not to laugh.**

"**Shut up," Percy told him.**

Annabeth frowned. "Don't you get it, Percy? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids  
like us."  
"You mean, mentally disturbed kids?"  
"I mean not human. Not totally human, anyway. Half-human."  
"Half-human and half-what?"  
"I think you know."  
I didn't want to admit it, but I was afraid I did. I felt a tingling in my limbs, a sensation I sometimes felt  
when my mom talked about my dad.  
"God," I said. "Half-god."  
Annabeth nodded. "Your father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians."

"**Who said he had to be an Olympian?" Reyna said. "He could be the child of a minor god."**

"**He's powerful and attracted the Minotaur," Annabeth shrugged. "No child of a minor god could do those things."**

"That's ... crazy."  
"Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with  
humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?"

"**Definitely not," the demigods said, making the gods and goddess (Aphrodite) smile.**

"But those are just—" I almost said myths again. Then I remembered Chiron's warning that in two  
thousand years, I might be considered a myth. "But if all the kids here are half-gods—"  
"Demigods," Annabeth said. "That's the official term. Or half-bloods."  
"Then who's your dad?"

"**That's none of your business," Annabeth snapped.**

"**It was just a question," Percy said defensively.**

Her hands tightened around the pier railing. I got the feeling I'd just trespassed on a sensitive subject.  
"My dad is a professor at West Point," she said. "I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches  
American history."  
"He's human."  
"What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?"

"**Geez," Percy said. "You're really harsh."**

"**What I said was true," Annabeth huffed. "You **_**were**_** being sexist, don't be mad because I pointed out the truth."**

"**Whatever."**

"Who's your mom, then?"  
"Cabin six."

"**You could have just told me her name." Percy quipped.**

**Annabeth just shrugged, she liked the way she introduced her mother to the newbies.**

"Meaning?"  
Annabeth straightened. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."

.**Annabeth and Athena smirked at eachother.**

Okay, I thought. Why not?

**They both glared at Percy.**

"**What's **_**that **_**supposed to mean?" Annabeth demanded.**

**Percy just shrugged.**

"And my dad?"  
"Undetermined," Annabeth said, "like I told you before. Nobody knows."  
"Except my mother. She knew."  
"Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities."  
"My dad would have. He loved her."  
Annabeth gave me a cautious look. She didn't want to burst my bubble.

"**Hey, I do love Sally," Poseidon objected.**

**Annabeth shrugged. "Most gods don't love the Mortal, how was I supposed to know you did?"**

"**Maybe by not basing all of your friends relationships with their parents on my sons," Poseidon said.**

"**Poseidon!" Athena snapped.**

**Poseidon didn't look pleased with Annabeth (mostly because she was Athena's daughter) but he sat back in his throne.**

"Maybe you're right. Maybe  
he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as  
his son. Sometimes it happens."  
"You mean sometimes it doesn't?"  
Annabeth ran her palm along the rail. "The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always  
... Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."

"**We care enough to help you all on your way to camp, don't we?" Zeus grumbled.**

"**You sent monsters after your daughter the whole way!" Annabeth said. "Luke told me about that stupid sheep too! You made the sheep lead them to that mansion – they could have **_**died**_**."**

**Zeus looked down at Annabeth. "You dare speak to me like that, demigod?"**

**Annabeth was on her feet, tears welling up in her eyes. All her anger about her lost friend had risen, and it was aiming for Zeus. "Who else is there to blame?" Annabeth demanded. "It is your fault she's gone!"**

"**Annabeth," Athena cautioned.**

"**No!" Annabeth snapped, swiping a tear off her cheek. "That's the problem with you gods! Someone tells you that your wrong and you want to turn them into a hamster – but sometimes you **_**need**_** to be told that you're wrong. Or else you'll end up thinking you're superior."**

"**I **_**am**_** superior," Zeus said. "Sit down, you're testing my patience."**

"**I wasn't aware you had any," Annabeth said coolly.**

**Percy felt his muscles tighten when there was a flash of light and he surged forward and knocked Annabeth sideways as a lightning bolt came crashing down at the place where she has just been.**

**Annabeth gasped when she fell backwards, but the fall didn't hurt, because someone's arm was wrapped around her head.**

"**Annabeth, you are an **_**idiot**_**," Percy informed her, getting to a sitting position.**

**The gods were arguing again. Athena was yelling at Zeus for trying to kill her daughter, Poseidon was yelling at Zeus for almost getting his son in the process, and Zeus was yelling at both of them for obvious reasons.**

**Annabeth got to a sitting position too, her head spinning. It took a couple of minutes before she realized that Percy had just saved her from being electrocuted. "Thanks," she said.**

**Percy shrugged awkwardly. "Can't let my friend die, can I?"**

**Annabeth tried not to feel disappointed at the word 'friend.'**

**Percy got to his feet and helped his friend up too. They both looked at the other demigods, who were listening to the gods' fight.**

"**You could have killed her!" Athena yelled.**

"**She was disrespecting me!"**

"**She was speaking her mind!"**

"**I don't care what she was doing – next time you decide to fire a master bolt next to my son I'll send a wave crashing down on you!"**

**Percy glanced at Annabeth, who nodded.**

"**Can you guys like, shut up?" Percy yelled. The gods stopped and turned to Percy. "I'm going to read."**

I thought about some of the kids I'd seen in the Hermes cabin, teenagers who looked sullen and  
depressed, as if they were waiting for a call that would never come.

"**It will come…eventually…I think," Annabeth said uncertainly.**

I'd known kids like that at Yancy  
Academy, shuffled off to boarding school by rich parents who didn't have the time to deal with them. But  
gods should behave better.

**The gods looked furious, but Annabeth was nodding, which was all the encouragement Percy needed.**

"So I'm stuck here," I said. "That's it? For the rest of my life?"  
"It depends," Annabeth said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or  
Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force.

"**Oh, Annabeth, you are so naive," Aphrodite sighed. "The power of love is the most powerful force of all. Without love, you wouldn't be here. Without love, there would be killing at every turn. Why, **_**without love**_**, you wouldn't **_**want**_** to be an architect because you wouldn't **_**love**_** buildings. In a way, I am the most important goddess of all. Because without me, we will all be killing each other left and right."**

**Annabeth could see what she meant, but she didn't think that Aphrodite was the most important Olympian. Because without wisdom, everyone would be like cavemen, running around like animals.**

**Percy could see what she meant, but without his dad, everyone would have died. You need water to survive.**

The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by  
with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us,  
it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense  
us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause  
trouble—about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they  
get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you  
the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."

"**If they don't know tht they are demigods, then how do you know if they are?" Percy asked.**

"**Because I do," Annabeth said, which Percy didn't see as a straight answer but decided to keep reading anyway.**

"So monsters can't get in here?"  
Annabeth shook her head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially  
summoned by somebody on the inside."  
"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"  
"Practice fights. Practical jokes."

"**What's so funny about a monster?" Percy said.**

**Annabeth just shrugged. "I don't know, it's just amuses us."**

**Percy wondered if going to this camp made you have some kind of twisted sense of humor.**

"Practical jokes?"  
"The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look  
into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."  
"So ... you're a year-rounder?"  
Annabeth nodded. From under the collar of her T-shirt she pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads  
of different colors. It was just like Luke's, except Annabeth's also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a  
college ring.

**Everyone's eyes flew to her leather bead necklace, to see the little gold ring in it. Annabeth twisted it absently.**

"I've been here since I was seven," she said. "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a  
bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most of the counselors, and they're all in  
college."  
"Why did you come so young?"  
She twisted the ring on her necklace. "None of your business."

"**Geez, Annabeth, it's just a question," Percy grumbled.**

"**A personal question," Annabeth said.**

"**How was I supposed to know it was personal?"**

"**Why are you asking it in the first place?"**

"**I'm curious."**

"**Why?"**

"**None of your business." Percy told her. She scowled at him.**

"Oh." I stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence. "So ... I could just walk out of here right now if  
I wanted to?"  
"It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give  
permission until the end of the summer session unless ..."  
"Unless?"  
"You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time ..."  
Her voice trailed off. I could tell from her tone that the last time hadn't gone well.

"**What happened?"**

"**The last quest was for Luke," Annabeth said. "And he came back…"**

"**Yes?"**

"**It's not my story to tell."**

"**Right…"**

"Back in the sick room," I said, "when you were feeding me that stuff—"  
"Ambrosia."  
"Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."  
Annabeth's shoulders tensed. "So you do know something?"  
"Well... no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned  
the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did  
that mean?"  
She clenched her fists. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me.  
Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so  
normal ."  
"You've been to Olympus?"  
"Some of us year-rounders—Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others—we took a field trip during  
winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."

"**A field trip to Olympus?" Jason said, raising one eyebrow. "Weird."**

"**You've never had one?" Annabeth asked.**

"**No," Jason said. "We are hardly ever in contact with gods."**

**Annabeth tried not to look smug about this.**

"But... how did you get there?"  
"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special  
elevator to the six hundredth floor." She looked at me like she was sure I must know this already.

"**How would I know that?" Percy demanded.**

"**You're a New Yorker, right?" Annabeth said.**

"**Yes, but there **_**is**_** no six hundredth floor as far as I'm concerned," Percy grumbled.**

"You  
are a New Yorker, right?"  
"Oh, sure." As far as I knew, there were only a hundred and two floors in the Empire State Building, but  
I decided not to point that out.  
"Right after we visited," Annabeth continued, "the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting.

"**One of you must have stolen my lightning bolt then," Zeus said. "I need all the names of everyone on that trip."**

"**The trip didn't happen yet," Athena said. "We don't know the names."**

"**We have Clarisse," Zeus said. "And Luke and Annabeth. One of those three could have done it."**

"**My daughter would never do something so stupid," Athena said. "But I'm not so sure about the daughter of war, she might want to start a fight – and the son of Hermes, he does have certain skills with stealing."**

"**Luke would never do something like that," Annabeth said. "He's a good guy."**

"**Those are the ones you always have to watch out for," Artemis said.**

**Annabeth tried not to glare. "Luke wouldn't do that. End of story. Percy, read, now."**

A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something  
important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you  
came, I was hoping ... I mean— Athena can get along with just about anybody,

"**Apparently you can't," Percy grumbled.**

"**What's that supposed to mean?" Annabeth demanded.**

"**It means that you've been trying to fight with me this whole time," Percy said, pointing to the book. "You were even thinking of using me as bait!"**

"**Battle tactic," Annabeth said. "Nothing personal."**

"**Well, you're using me and I don't like it," Percy said.**

**Annabeth felt her face go red. "So you're saying if you get a quest you won't take me along?"**

**Percy hesitated. Not taking her along would be like asking to be killed, but he still didn't like being used… "I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that you're wrong, and you should listen instead of acting superior."**

**Annabeth's face grew redder at the familiarity in these words.**

except for Ares.

"**Of course," Ares said. "She's always trying to be the only war immortal."**

"**Me?" Athena demanded. "**_**You're**_** the one who always wants to challenge me!"**

And of  
course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon.

"**The irony," Reyna smirked.**

But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work  
together. I thought you might know something."

"**Okay, you think I'm the son of one of the Big Three," Percy said. "I'm obviously not a child of Hades, and you don't think I'm the son of Poseidon. So you think I'm the son of Zeus?"**

**Annabeth admitted to it.**

I shook my head. I wished I could help her, but I felt too hungry and tired and mentally overloaded to  
ask any more questions.  
"I've got to get a quest," Annabeth muttered to her-self. "I'm not too young. If they would just tell me the  
problem ..."  
I could smell barbecue smoke coming from somewhere nearby.

"**I'm having a crisis and you're getting sidetracked by food?" Annabeth demanded.**

**Percy just shrugged, a bemused smile on his lips.**

"**Boys," Artemis sighed.**

Annabeth must've heard my stomach  
growl. She told me to go on, she'd catch me later. I left her on the pier, tracing her finger across the rail  
as if drawing a battle plan.

"**I most likely am," Annabeth said. "For Capture the Flag."**

"**You know the Romans would love you," Jason said. "Even if your existence **_**is**_** a scandal."**

**Annabeth shriveled around. "What did you say?" she demanded. "How his my existence a scandal?"**

**Jason gestured desperately for Percy to read, and he did.**

**Meanwhile, Athena was scowling coldly at Jason.**

Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner. For the first time, I  
noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous  
smiles.

"**Yes, all those similar traits are from Hermes," Annabeth said.**

They were the kind of kids that teachers would peg as troublemakers. Thankfully, nobody paid  
much attention to me as I walked over to my spot on the floor and plopped down with my minotaur horn.  
The counselor, Luke, came over. He had the Hermes family resemblance, too. It was marred by that  
scar on his right cheek, but his smile was intact.  
"Found you a sleeping bag," he said. "And here, I stole you some toiletries from the camp store."

"**Is he serious?" Percy said.**

"**Yeah, Luke does that for his family," Annabeth threw a look in Zeus' direction. "He steals **_**for **_**them, not from them."**

I couldn't tell if he was kidding about the stealing part.  
I said, "Thanks."  
"No prob." Luke sat next to me, pushed his back against the wall. "Tough first day?"  
"I don't belong here," I said. "I don't even believe in gods."  
"Yeah," he said. "That's how we all started. Once you start believing in them? It doesn't get any easier."

"**That's encouraging," Percy said warily.**

"**That's the truth." Annabeth said. "For him, anyways. His father made him sad."**

The bitterness in his voice surprised me, because Luke seemed like a pretty easygoing guy. He looked  
like he could handle just about anything.

"**He's amazing," Annabeth sighed.**

**Percy rolled his eyes, but Luke **_**did **_**sound like the kind of person he would want as a friend.**

**Aphrodite was disappointed. To create a love triangle, you had to have jealousy – but Percy didn't seem that interested in Annabeth. Could she have been wrong about the feelings she sense a while ago?**

**No, she was never wrong about things like that.**

"So your dad is Hermes?" I asked.  
He pulled a switchblade out of his back pocket, and for a second I thought he was going to gut me, but  
he just scraped the mud off the sole of his sandal. "Yeah. Hermes."  
"The wing-footed messenger guy."

"**That's one title he goes for," Athena sighed at the boy's stupidity.**

"That's him. Messengers. Medicine.

"**I thought Apollo was the god of medicine," Percy said, confused.**

"**They both are," Annabeth said.**

Travelers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's  
why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors."

"**Did he just call me a nobody?" Percy said.**

**Annabeth glared at him. "He has a lot on his mind."**

"**I wasn't saying anything bad about him," Percy grumbled. "I just asked…"**

I figured Luke didn't mean to call me a nobody. He just had a lot on his mind.  
"You ever meet your dad?" I asked.  
"Once."  
I waited, thinking that if he wanted to tell me, he'd tell me. Apparently, he didn't. I wondered if the story  
had any-thing to do with how he got his scar.  
Luke looked up and managed a smile. "Don't worry about it, Percy. The campers here, they're mostly  
good people. After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other."

**Annabeth smiled softly.**

He seemed to understand how lost I felt, and I was grateful for that, because an older guy like  
him—even if he was a counselor—should've steered clear of an uncool middle-schooler like me. But  
Luke had welcomed me into the cabin. He'd even stolen me some toiletries, which was the nicest thing  
anybody had done for me all day.

"**I gave you your Minotaur horn," said Grover, offended.**

"**Yeah, thanks, man."**

I decided to ask him my last big question, the one that had been bothering me all afternoon. "Clarisse,  
from Ares, was joking about me being 'Big Three' material. Then Annabeth ... twice, she said I might be  
'the one.' She said I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?"  
Luke folded his knife. "I hate prophecies."  
"What do you mean?"  
His face twitched around the scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two  
years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed any more  
quests. Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her  
he already knew her fate.

"**He makes it sound like I was being annoying," Annabeth frowned.**

"**You probably were," Percy said 'helpfully'.**

He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing, but  
he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until... somebody special came to  
the camp."  
"Somebody special?"  
"Don't worry about it, kid," Luke said. "Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through  
here is the omen she's been waiting for. Now, come on, it's dinnertime."  
The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance. Somehow, I knew it was a conch shell, even though  
I'd never heard one before.

"**Comes with being a son of Poseidon," Poseidon said smugly.**

Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!"  
The whole cabin, about twenty of us, filed into the commons yard. We lined up in order of seniority, so  
of course I was dead last.

"**Of course," everyone was snickering.**

Campers came from the other cabins, too, except for the three empty cabins  
at the end, and cabin eight, which had looked normal in the daytime, but was now starting to glow silver  
as the sun went down.  
We marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow. Naiads emerged  
from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods— and when I say out of the woods, I  
mean straight out of the woods. I saw one girl, about nine or ten years old, melt from the side of a maple  
tree and come skipping up the hill.  
In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs  
and naiads.  
At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the  
size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the  
tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. I had to squeeze on to the edge of a bench  
with half my butt hanging off.

**Grover was sniggering at the word 'butt.'**

"**Dude," Percy said. "Be mature."**

I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who  
looked just like Mr. D.

"**His sons," Annabeth said.**

"**He only has two?" Percy said.**

"**He doesn't like heroes."**

Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur.  
Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with her gray eyes and  
honey-blond hair.

"**Why do they have blond hair when Athena had brown?" Percy said, confused.**

**Athena looked embarrassed as Aphrodite laughed. "Athena likes her blonde men."**

**Annabeth tried not to look grossed out by this.**

"**Kind of weird that the daughter of wisdom is blond," Percy muttered to Reyna, who suppressed a smile.**

Clarisse sat behind me at Ares's table. She'd apparently gotten over being hosed down, because she  
was laughing and belching right alongside her friends.

"**No, she hasn't," Annabeth said. "She just likes to solve her grudges in battle, not moping around and glaring."**

"**That's my girl," Ares said.**

Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He  
raised a glass. "To the gods!"  
Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!"  
Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread,  
and yes, barbecue!

"**I love barbecue," Percy told everyone. "My Mom makes killer blue barbecue."**

My glass was empty, but Luke said, "Speak to it. Whatever you  
want—nonalcoholic, of course."  
I said, "Cherry Coke."  
The glass filled with sparkling caramel liquid.  
Then I had an idea. "Blue Cherry Coke."  
The soda turned a violent shade of cobalt.  
I took a cautious sip. Perfect.  
I drank a toast to my mother.

**Percy sighed. He knew she wasn't gone. He wouldn't let her leave.**

She's not gone, I told myself. Not permanently, anyway. She's in the Underworld. And if that's a real  
place, then someday...

"**Don't think like that Percy," Poseidon said. "When it's someone's time to die, they need to go. You shouldn't stop them."**

"**She's not dead," Percy said.**

"Here you go, Percy," Luke said, handing me a platter of smoked brisket.  
I loaded my plate and was about to take a big bite when I noticed everybody getting up, carrying their  
plates toward the fire in the center of the pavilion. I wondered if they were going for dessert or  
something.

**Grover's stomach grumbled. "No. We don't get dessert until **_**after**_** we eat, Percy."**

"Come on," Luke told me.  
As I got closer, I saw that everyone was taking a portion of their meal and dropping it into the fire, the  
ripest strawberry, the juiciest slice of beef, the warmest, most buttery roll.  
Luke murmured in my ear, "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell."  
"You're kidding."  
His look warned me not to take this lightly, but I couldn't help wondering why an immortal, all-powerful  
being would like the smell of burning food.

"**We just do," Zeus said.**

Luke approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes. "Hermes."  
I was next.  
I wished I knew what god's name to say.  
Finally, I made a silent plea. Whoever you are, tell me. Please.  
I scraped a big slice of brisket into the flames.  
When I caught a whiff of the smoke, I didn't gag.  
It smelled nothing like burning food. It smelled of hot chocolate and fresh-baked brownies, hamburgers  
on the grill and wildflowers, and a hundred other good things that shouldn't have gone well together, but  
did. I could almost believe the gods could live off that smoke.  
When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof  
again for our attention.  
Mr. D got up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our  
activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."  
A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table.

"**Ha!" Ares said to Athena. "My children beat yours!"**

**Athena scowled at him**

"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we  
have a new camper today. Peter Johnson."

"**Who's that?" Percy asked.**

"**That's you, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said.**

"**Why did he get my name wrong?" Percy demanded, he already had a bad rep. **

"**He does that to people he either doesn't like or is too popular for his taste." Annabeth said, as though that was normal. "So generally everyone."**

Chiron murmured something.  
"Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly  
campfire. Go on."  
Everybody cheered. We all headed down toward the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin led a  
sing-along. We sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around, and the funny thing  
was, I didn't feel that anyone was staring at me anymore. I felt that I was home.

**Annabeth smiled. "Wonders of the camp. No one can feel out of place."**

**Percy smiled, he wished he could go, but he would never leave his mom.**

Later in the evening, when the sparks from the campfire were curling into a starry sky, the conch horn  
blew again, and we all filed back to our cabins. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I collapsed on  
my borrowed sleeping-bag.  
My fingers curled around the Minotaur's horn. I thought about my mom, but I had good thoughts: her  
smile, the bedtime stories she would read me when I was a kid, the way she would tell me not to let the  
bedbugs bite.

**Annabeth and Jason felt stirs of envy in their stomachs at this.**

When I closed my eyes, I fell asleep instantly.  
That was my first day at Camp Half-Blood.  
I wish I'd known how briefly I would get to enjoy my new home.

"**What happens?" Percy said warily.**

"**Maybe you're offered quest," Annabeth shrugged, then yawned. "I'm tired."**

"**It's time for you to sleep," Athena said, sounding shockingly like a mother. "Come on, you can sleep in my guest room."**


	8. We Capture a Flag

**Everyone was given their own rooms. Athena gave Annabeth a room, Poseidon gave Percy a room, Zeus gave Jason a room, and Reyna and Grover were shown into empty guest rooms by Artemis, who left with a smile at Reyna.**

**The next morning, they ate breakfast in bed, brought in by wind spirits.**

**One wind spirit was even bold enough to put a rose on Percy's tray, and she breezed away giggling.**

**Percy made sure to throw the rose away the second the wind spirit left.**

**When they met up to read again, everyone was well rested and ready to read.**

"**Ready?" Grover said, then started to read.**

WE CAPTURE  
A FLAG

"**Yes," Ares said, rubbing his hands together, his fire eyes roaring. "Finally, time for some action."**

"**There wasn't enough action when I fought a fury?" Percy said. "Or when I fought the Minotaur? Or when I beat up your kids with toilet water?"**

**Ares sneered at Percy. "Those were all lucky wins. Just wait till my kids get their weapons and you'll be pulverized."**

**Percy clenched his fists. "Yeah right. I didn't hear you saying this when I made them drink sewer."**

"**You got a mouth on you, kid," Ares said. "But that's not going to help you when Clarisse knocks your teeth out."**

The next few days I settled into a routine that felt almost normal, if you don't count the fact that I was  
getting lessons from satyrs, nymphs, and a centaur.

"**There's nothing strange about that," Grover said. "Satyrs are good teachers."**

"**I'm sure they are, Goat Boy," Percy smirked.**

**Grover stared at him. "Yeah, they are. It isn't hard to believe, you know."**

**Percy just frowned at him and shook his head.**

Each morning I took Ancient Greek from Annabeth,

"**Alone every morning," Aphrodite smirked. "Cute. You two are just making it too easy for me."**

**Percy shuffled a bit away from Annabeth, who glared at both him and Aphrodite. Percy didn't know which was more unnerving, Annabeth's grey eyed glare, or Aphrodite's shockingly beautiful smirk.**

and we talked about the gods and goddesses in the  
present tense, which was kind of weird.

"**Not really," everyone said, except Percy.**

I discovered Annabeth was right about my dyslexia: Ancient  
Greek wasn't that hard for me to read. At least, no harder than English. After a couple of mornings, I  
could stumble through a few lines of Homer without too much headache.

**Athena rolled her eyes.**

The rest of the day, I'd rotate through outdoor activities, looking for something I was good at. Chiron  
tried to teach me archery, but we found out pretty quick I wasn't any good with a bow and arrow.

"**Aw, man," Percy said, trying not to look too disappointed. It would be cool to be good at a bow and arrow.**

"**It's okay," Annabeth said. "It's one step closer for your book-self to knowing who his father is. Now we know that there is no way you're Apollo's kid."**

"**Yippee," Percy said sarcastically.**

He  
didn't complain, even when he had to de-snag a stray arrow out of his tail.

"**Okay, Chiron sounds really, **_**really**_** awesome," Percy said, after wincing after the sentence.**

"**Just wait until you meet him," Annabeth smiled proudly.**

Foot racing? No good either. The wood-nymph instructors left me in the dust.

**Percy was starting to look really embarrassed now. "I'm slower than a tree?"**

"**Don't feel too bad," Athena said. "They have practice outrunning gods."**

**Zeus and Poseidon (who were always the two gods most attracted to wood-nymphs) shrugged shamelessly.**

They told me not to  
worry about it. They'd had centuries of practice running away from lovesick gods. But still, it was a little  
humiliating to be slower than a tree.

"**Yeah, you **_**don't**_** change at all," Reyna said.**

And wrestling? Forget it. Every time I got on the mat, Clarisse would pulverize me.

**Ares laughed harshly. "Got anything to say now, punk?"**

"**Yeah," Percy nodded seriously. "She must be a really big girl."**

**Ares seemed to think this was a compliment because he said, "Yeah, she is. She lifts weights twice a day – in the morning and right before she goes to bed."**

"There's more where that came from, punk," she'd mumble in my ear.  
The only thing I really excelled at was canoeing,

"**You've **_**got**_** to be kidding me," Percy said.**

"**It makes sense, Percy," Reyna said, though her face was tense as though she were trying to hold back a laugh. "You **_**are**_** the son of the sea god…"**

**She didn't finish because she was too busy laughing, along with everyone else but Poseidon and Percy.**

"**Alright, you had your laugh," Percy said, trying to sound angry but his red face ruined it. "Grover, keep reading."**

**Grover read, but everyone was still laughing.**

and that wasn't the kind of heroic skill people expected  
to see from the kid who had beaten the Minotaur.

"**Definitely not," Annabeth smirked.**

I knew the senior campers and counselors were watching me, trying to decide who my dad was, but  
they weren't having an easy time of it. I wasn't as strong as the Ares kids,

"**No way," Ares scoffed. "And even if you **_**were **_**my kid, I would never claim you."**

"**Thanks," Percy said. "I wouldn't want to be claimed by you."**

or as good at archery as the  
Apollo kids.

"**Already figured that out," Annabeth said.**

I didn't have Hephaestus's skill with metalwork

"**I'm not either," Jason said, just to make Percy feel better. "Most kids aren't. The Hephaestus cabin doesn't make the equipment easy, either."**

or—gods forbid— Dionysus's way with vine  
plants.

"**That's worst then being claimed by Ares," Percy said.**

"**Sssh," Grover said frantically.**

"**Grover, he's not going to blast us on the spot," Annabeth said. "You're being ridiculous."**

"**I'm being reasonable," Grover disagreed shakily. "He's a god. We can't say anything bad about him."**

**Annabeth rolled her eyes.**

"**I bet he'll be too lazy to do anything about it, anyways," Percy said, making Grover nearly pee himself.**

"**Percy, stop," Annabeth said, then turned to Grover. "You, read."**

**Grover was all too happy to.**

Luke told me I might be a child of Hermes, a kind of jack-of-all-trades, master of none. But I got  
the feeling he was just trying to make me feel better.

"**Most likely," Annabeth said, then when Percy sent Annabeth an offended look she said, "I meant that it's so like Luke to try and say that, even if he doesn't really think it."**

He really didn't know what to make of me either.  
Despite all that, I liked camp. I got used to the morning fog over the beach, the smell of hot strawberry  
fields in the afternoon, even the weird noises of monsters in the woods at night. I would eat dinner with  
cabin eleven, scrape part of my meal into the fire, and try to feel some connection to my real dad.  
Nothing came.

"**What are you waiting for?" Percy asked.**

**Poseidon thought about it for a moment, because it hasn't happened yet, then came up with an answer. "I need to do it at the right place, at the right time."**

"**I don't get it," Percy admitted.**

"**You will," was all Poseidon said.**

Just that warm feeling I'd always had, like the memory of his smile. I tried not to think too  
much about my mom, but I kept wondering: if gods and monsters were real, if all this magical stuff was  
possible, surely there was some way to save her, to bring her back...

"**It'll be tough," Athena said. "And you would most likely die, but it is possible."**

"**Hercules managed it," Percy said. "So can I."**

"**You're not Hercules," Athena said. "He was powerful and strong, it would take a lot to bring him down. And you're… the Underworld isn't the sea, Percy Jackson, and that is all I have to say."**

I started to understand Luke's bitterness and how he seemed to resent his father, Hermes.

"**Don't," Zeus said. "It's disrespectful."**

"**What are they supposed to feel after so much neglect you gods give your children?" Annabeth demanded.**

"**You should stop feeling like sentimental kids and grow up," Ares suggested. "You might be our children, but there are plenty of you, we can't drop by all of your houses every day just because you start to feel lonely. We're gods, we have important stuff to do."**

"**A drop by every once in a while wouldn't hurt," Percy objected, defending Annabeth. "Your children are going to start to turn on you if you ignore them so much."**

"**Spoiled kids don't deserve our attention," Zeus said. "I want strong children, not whiny ones."**

"**Luke isn't whiny!" Annabeth said, clenching her fists.**

"**Then he shouldn't be complaining," Zeus glowered at Annabeth, his eyes flashing again. "He should hear all the good stuff Hermes says about him, it's starting to get annoying."**

"**Why doesn't Hermes say it to Luke, then?" Annabeth demanded. "Why is he wasting time saying it to you?"**

"**Don't ask me to work the mind of a messenger god," Zeus said. "It means nothing to me what he thinks of his children."**

So okay,  
maybe gods had important things to do. But couldn't they call once in a while, or thunder, or something?  
Dionysus could make Diet Coke appear out of thin air. Why couldn't my dad, who-ever he was, make a  
phone appear?

"**I'm the god of the sea, not the god of technology," Poseidon frowned.**

Thursday afternoon, three days after I'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood, I had my first sword-fighting  
lesson. Every-body from cabin eleven gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be our  
instructor.

"**Luke's the best swordsman in three hundred years," Annabeth said proudly. "No one can beat him."**

"**Great," Percy said bitterly. "So I guess I'm not going to be good with a sword either?"**

"**Not when you're against him."**

We started with basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw-stuffed dummies in Greek armor. I guess  
I did okay. At least, I understood what I was supposed to do and my reflexes were good.  
The problem was, I couldn't find a blade that felt right in my hands.

"**Oh," Jason frowned. "That's not good."**

"**Why?" Percy said, confused.**

"**It makes your fighting awkward," Jason said, then took out a gold coin and started to fiddle with it.**

Either they were too heavy, or too  
light, or too long. Luke tried his best to fix me up, but he agreed that none of the practice blades seemed  
to work for me.

"**Maybe you're not a swordsman," Reyna said. "You did good with the Minotaur horn, though. Maybe you should try a dagger."**

**If Percy was truthful with himself, he would rather have a sword, but the thought that he might be good with something was comforting.**

We moved on to dueling in pairs. Luke announced he would be my partner, since this was my first time.  
"Good luck," one of the campers told me. "Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years."  
"Maybe he'll go easy on me," I said.  
The camper snorted.

"**Luke doesn't go easy on people," Annabeth said.**

Luke showed me thrusts and parries and shield blocks the hard way. With every swipe, I got a little  
more battered and bruised. "Keep your guard up, Percy," he'd say, then whap me in the ribs with the flat  
of his blade. "No, not that far up!" Whap! "Lunge!" Whap! "Now, back!" Whap!  
By the time he called a break, I was soaked in sweat.

"**Geez," Percy said. "He can't take it easy on me?"**

"**Monsters won't take it easy on you," Annabeth said. "So why should he?"**

"**Maybe because it's my first time," Percy suggested.**

"**Monsters won't care if it was your first time, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth said. "Luke's been teaching Demigods to fight for years, he knows what he's doing."**

Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler. Luke  
poured ice water on his head, which looked like such a good idea, I did the same.  
Instantly, I felt better. Strength surged back into my arms. The sword didn't feel so awkward.

"**The power of a god," Poseidon said smugly.**

"**What?" Percy said, frowning.**

"**When you have water on yourself, you develop the power of a god," Poseidon explained. "But if you step out, you're back to yourself again – though I'm sure yourself is going to be very skilled too."**

**Percy looked excited at this fact.**

"Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."  
Great, I thought. Let's all watch Percy get pounded.

"**He does it to everybody," Grover assured Percy. "Don't take it personally."**

**Percy didn't, he thought Luke sounded like a pretty cool guy, as a matter of fact, but he didn't like the thought of everyone staring at him during his first sword fighting lesson.**

The Hermes guys gathered around. They were sup-pressing smiles. I figured they'd been in my shoes  
before and couldn't wait to see how Luke used me for a punching bag.

"**That's most likely what they're thinking," Reyna said. "The sons of Hermes usually come to Circe's island. They make very wild Guinea Pigs. Always trying to bite me and my sister."**

"**Well, you **_**did**_** turn them into Guinea Pigs," Jason said. "Don't you think you deserve to get bitten?"**

"**They tried to steal our secrets," Reyna shrugged. "They got what they deserved, too."**

He told everybody he was going  
to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword so  
that he had no choice but to drop his weapon.

"**I love that one," Ares said, rubbing his hands together. "It's good for taunting the person you're battling. I usually go for cutting their sword arm off in the most serious battles, though."**

**Aphrodite tried to not look sickened by this.**

"This is difficult," he stressed. "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen  
have to work years to master this technique."  
He demonstrated the move on me in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of my hand.  
"Now in real time," he said, after I'd retrieved my weapon. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off.  
Ready, Percy?"  
I nodded, and Luke came after me. Somehow, I kept him from getting a shot at the hilt of my sword.  
My senses opened up. I saw his attacks coming. I countered. I stepped forward and tried a thrust of my  
own. Luke deflected it easily, but I saw a change in his face. His eyes narrowed, and he started to press  
me with more force.  
The sword grew heavy in my hand. The balance wasn't right. I knew it was only a matter of seconds  
before Luke took me down, so I figured, What the heck?  
I tried the disarming maneuver.  
My blade hit the base of Luke's and I twisted, putting my whole weight into a downward thrust.  
Clang.

**Annabeth's mouth was hanging open in disbelief. "No way. He let you beat him."**

"**I thought you said he wouldn't take it easy on me," Percy smirked.**

"**He has never been beaten," Annabeth objected. "There is no possible way a **_**beginner**_** could stand a chance."**

"**Well," Percy said, still smirking. "This beginner just beat him. Does this make **_**me**_** the best swordsman in three hundred years?"**

**Annabeth was glowering at him. She couldn't understand how he could beat Luke. Luke was so… she lost track of her thoughts because Percy was still bragging.**

"**Shut up, Seaweed Brain," she told him.**

"**Mad because I beat your hero, Wise Girl?" Percy said.**

**Annabeth rolled her eyes, annoyed, and gestured for Grover to read.**

"**No comment," Percy smirked.**

Luke's sword rattled against the stones. The tip of my blade was an inch from his undefended chest.  
The other campers were silent.  
I lowered my sword. "Um, sorry."

**Ares scoffed. "Don't apologize! You just because the best swordsman in three hundred years! Now defend your title, don't let him beat you again."**

For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak.  
"Sorry?" His scarred face broke into a grin. "By the gods, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that  
again!"  
I didn't want to. The short burst of manic energy had completely abandoned me. But Luke insisted.  
This time, there was no contest. The moment our swords connected, Luke hit my hilt and sent my  
weapon skidding across the floor.  
After a long pause, somebody in the audience said, "Beginner's luck?"

"**That wasn't luck," Annabeth murmured, finally excepting that Percy had beat Luke.**

Luke wiped the sweat off his brow. He appraised at me with an entirely new interest. "Maybe," he said.  
"But I won-der what Percy could do with a balanced sword... ."

"**A lot of damage," Poseidon said proudly.**

Friday afternoon, I was sitting with Grover at the lake, resting from a near-death experience on the  
climbing wall.

"**It can't be that hard," Jason said.**

"**It isn't," Annabeth said. "You just have to know which rock to hang onto first. It's all in the brains – except the Ares cabin. They just start climbing the wall like lunatics."**

"**The way you're **_**supposed**_** to do it," Ares said proudly.**

Grover had scampered to the top like a mountain goat, but the lava had almost gotten me.  
My shirt had smoking holes in it. The hairs had been singed off my forearms.  
We sat on the pier, watching the naiads do underwater basket-weaving, until I got up the nerve to ask  
Grover how his conversation had gone with Mr. D.

"**Oh," Grover said sadly. "I forgot about that."**

"**Sorry, man."**

His face turned a sickly shade of yellow.  
"Fine," he said. "Just great."  
"So your career's still on track?"  
He glanced at me nervously. "Chiron t-told you I want a searcher's license?"

"**No," Percy said. "You did."**

**Grover blushed.**

"Well... no." I had no idea what a searcher's license was, but it didn't seem like the right time to ask. "He  
just said you had big plans, you know ... and that you needed credit for completing a keeper's  
assignment. So did you get it?"  
Grover looked down at the naiads. "Mr. D suspended judgment. He said I hadn't failed or succeeded  
with you yet, so our fates were still tied together. If you got a quest and I went along to protect you, and  
we both came back alive, then maybe he'd consider the job complete."

"_**Maybe**_**?" Artemis frowned. "But if you finished a quest – which is a very noble thing – then you should be given a reward, and a searchers license isn't much."**

**Grover shrugged sadly. "After what I did the first time… I wouldn't be surprised.**

My spirits lifted. "Well, that's not so bad, right?"  
"Blaa-ha-ha! He might as well have transferred me to stable-cleaning duty. The chances of you getting a  
quest... and even if you did, why would you want me along?"

"**Of course I'd want you along!" Percy said. "Who else will I take? Clarisse?"**

**Grover managed a smile.**

"Of course I'd want you along!"  
Grover stared glumly into the water. "Basket-weaving ... Must be nice to have a useful skill."  
I tried to reassure him that he had lots of talents, but that just made him look more miserable. We talked  
about canoeing and swordplay for a while, then debated the pros and cons of the different gods. Finally,  
I asked him about the four empty cabins.  
"Number eight, the silver one, belongs to Artemis," he said.

**Artemis smirked.**

"**It **_**is**_** surprising that you have such a pretty cabin," Aphrodite drawled. "Considering how **_**plain**_** you are."**

**Artemis glared fiercely at Aphrodite. "Your obsession with beauty is testing my patience, sister."**

"**Your lack of fashion is testing mine," was her reply.**

"She vowed to be a maiden forever. So of  
course, no kids. The cabin is, you know, honorary. If she didn't have one, she'd be mad."

"**Of course I would," Artemis said. "I may not have kids, but I have sisters, and we go there sometimes…"**

"**And almost end up destroying my cabin," Ares said, glaring at her.**

"**And mine," Poseidon said. "Well… when I used to have a full cabin."**

"**And you always try to **_**murder**_** my children," Aphrodite put in.**

**Artemis shrugged. "I don't encourage them, but your cabins always disagree with them."**

"**It's not my cabins fault if your 'sisters' walk around in rags you call clothes." Aphrodite quipped.**

"Yeah, okay. But the other three, the ones at the end. Are those the Big Three?"  
Grover tensed. We were getting close to a touchy subject. "No. One of them, number two, is Hera's,"  
he said. "That's another honorary thing. She's the goddess of marriage, so of course she wouldn't go  
around having affairs with mortals. That's her husband's job.

**Zeus narrowed his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean, satyr?"**

**Grover paled. "N-no, Lord Zeus. I'm just saying that you're… adventurous."**

"**Didn't sound like it to me," Zeus said dangerously.**

"**I…" Grover looked ready to pee for himself. "I…"**

**Zeus' eyes narrowed even more. "Read."**

**Grover looked all too happy to.**

When we say the Big Three, we mean the  
three powerful brothers, the sons of Kronos."  
"Zeus, Poseidon, Hades."  
"Right. You know. After the great battle with the Titans, they took over the world from their dad and  
drew lots to decide who got what."  
"Zeus got the sky," I remembered. "Poseidon the sea, Hades the Underworld."  
"Uh-huh."  
"But Hades doesn't have a cabin here."  
"No. He doesn't have a throne on Olympus, either. He sort of does his own thing down in the  
Underworld. If he did have a cabin here ..." Grover shuddered. "Well, it wouldn't be pleasant. Let's leave  
it at that."

"**Couldn't agree with you more," Annabeth said.**

"But Zeus and Poseidon—they both had, like, a bazillion kids in the myths. Why are their cabins  
empty?"  
Grover shifted his hooves uncomfortably. "About sixty years ago, after World War II, the Big Three  
agreed they wouldn't sire any more heroes. Their children were just too powerful. They were affecting  
the course of human events too much, causing too much carnage. World War II, you know, that was  
basically a fight between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and the sons of Hades on the other.

"**You two actually sided with eachother?" Percy asked, his eyes wide.**

"**Sometimes we do," Poseidon shrugged. "But only if Hades is on the other side."**

The winning side, Zeus and Poseidon, made Hades swear an oath with them: no more affairs with mortal  
women. They all swore on the River Styx."  
Thunder boomed.  
I said, "That's the most serious oath you can make."  
Grover nodded.  
"And the brothers kept their word—no kids?"  
Grover's face darkened. "Seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon. There was this TV starlet with a  
big fluffy eighties hairdo—he just couldn't help himself.

"**Fluffy hairdo?" Percy mouthed to Annabeth, who smirked.**

When their child was born, a little girl named  
Thalia .. .

"**Thalia the tree?" Percy frowned. "The fluffy haired starlet gave birth to a tree?"**

"**No, Percy," Annabeth sighed. "Thalia is a demigod, who turned into a tree."**

"**Okay…" Percy nodded as though that had made sense.**

well, the River Styx is serious about promises. Zeus himself got off easy because he's immortal,  
but he brought a terrible fate on his daughter."  
"But that isn't fair.' It wasn't the little girl's fault."

"**Thalia's older then you, Percy," Annabeth told him.**

"**Well, Grover said little girl," Percy said.**

"**Grover's twenty-seven," Annabeth said. "Of course he would."**

Grover hesitated. "Percy, children of the Big Three have powers greater than other half-bloods. They  
have a strong aura, a scent that attracts monsters. When Hades found out about the girl, he wasn't too  
happy about Zeus breaking his oath. Hades let the worst monsters out of Tartarus to torment Thalia. A  
satyr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve, but there was nothing he could do. He tried to  
escort her here with a couple of other half-bloods she'd befriended. They almost made it. They got all the  
way to the top of that hill."

"**That's painfully close," Jason frowned. "To see the camp but never really going to reach it."**

"**Thanks for the positivity," Annabeth snapped, knowing he was wright because that's what she had thought when she seen Thalia transform.**

He pointed across the valley, to the pine tree where I'd fought the minotaur. "All three Kindly Ones were  
after them, along with a horde of hellhounds. They were about to be overrun when Thalia told her satyr  
to take the other two half-bloods to safety while she held off the monsters.

"**That's really, really brave," Percy said.**

"**No one said she wasn't brave," Annabeth said defiantly.**

"**I was giving her a compliment," Percy said to her. "Not insulting her."**

She was wounded and tired,  
and she didn't want to live like a hunted animal. The satyr didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't change  
her mind, and he had to protect the others. So Thalia made her final stand alone, at the top of that hill. As  
she died, Zeus took pity on her. He turned her into that pine tree. Her spirit still helps protect the borders  
of the valley. That's why the hill is called Half-Blood Hill."  
I stared at the pine in the distance.  
The story made me feel hollow, and guilty too.

"**How?" Reyna frowned. "It wasn't your fault. You weren't even there."**

**Percy shrugged, though he felt guilt rising in his throat the very moment.**

A girl my age had sacrificed herself to save her friends.  
She had faced a whole army of monsters. Next to that, my victory over the Minotaur didn't seem like  
much.

"**No, it was still a brilliant feat," Poseidon assured his son. "Thalia had much more experience and she wasn't protecting the monsters from unconscious friends. She grew up having to make sacrifice's and doing the most noble things, that was the first time you were ever put in that situation, and you did well."**

**Percy felt proud, but then the thought of his mother in the Underworld made a frown appear on his forehead.**

I wondered, if I'd acted differently, could I have saved my mother?  
"Grover," I said, "have heroes really gone on quests to the Underworld?"  
"Sometimes," he said. "Orpheus. Hercules. Houdini."

"**You know, I was with you through the whole sentence," Percy said thoughtfully. "Until you said Houdini."**

**Grover shrugged. "Well he did."**

"And have they ever returned somebody from the dead?"  
"No. Never. Orpheus came close... . Percy, you're not seriously thinking—"  
"No," I lied. "I was just wondering. So ... a satyr is always assigned to guard a demigod?"  
Grover studied me warily. I hadn't persuaded him that I'd really dropped the Underworld idea.

"**It looks as though I'm not the only bad liar," Grover said.**

"**Yeah, well, you're worst," Percy said back.**

"Not  
always. We go undercover to a lot of schools. We try to sniff out the half-bloods who have the makings  
of great heroes. If we find one with a very strong aura, like a child of the Big Three, we alert Chiron. He  
tries to keep an eye on them, since they could cause really huge problems."  
"And you found me. Chiron said you thought I might be something special."  
Grover looked as if I'd just led him into a trap.

"**You probably did," Grover grumbled. "It sounded like something Annabeth would do."**

**Annabeth, who had heard him, sent him a glare. No way could a Seaweed Brain think like her – it was a ridiculous thought.**

"I didn't... Oh, listen, don't think like that. If you were  
—you know—you'd never ever be allowed a quest, and I'd never get my license. You're probably a  
child of Hermes. Or maybe even one of the minor gods, like Nemesis, the god of revenge.

"**Nemesis…" Percy looked confused. "I thought she was a **_**goddess**_**."**

**Annabeth smirked at Grover. "Yeah, **_**she**_** is."**

**Grover blushed.**

Don't worry,  
okay?"  
I got the idea he was reassuring himself more than me.  
That night after dinner, there was a lot more excitement than usual.  
At last, it was time for capture the flag.  
When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood at our tables.  
Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk  
banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From  
the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size,  
but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.

"**Yeah!" Ares said. "You better be scared, punks! My daughter is going to kick your butt!"**

"**Not when I'm in charge," Annabeth said confidently.**

I turned to Luke and yelled over the noise, "Those are the flags?"  
"Yeah."  
"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"  
"Not always," he said. "But often."  
"So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do— repaint the flag?"  
He grinned. "You'll see. First we have to get one."  
"Whose side are we on?"  
He gave me a sly look, as if he knew something I didn't.

"**I probably told him that you were bait," Annabeth said, then frowned. "What does he mean 'you'll see'? How is he so confident that he'll get it… oh."**

**Annabeth's face turned pink, though Percy didn't know why.**

**Aphrodite gave her a wide grin, knowing why Luke was so confident.**

The scar on his face made him look almost evil  
in the torchlight.

"**I don't think it's possible for Luke to look evil," Annabeth said, and Grover nodded.**

**Percy shrugged. "I've never met him, so I wouldn't know.**

"We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And  
you are going to help."  
The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest  
cabins. Apparently, privileges had been traded—shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for  
activities—in order to win support.  
Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus.

"**Why?" Percy asked.**

"**Everyone likes to side with Ares because he's the male god of war," Annabeth shrugged. "And the Athena cabin doesn't care, because smaller groups are more flexible in battle."**

From  
what I'd seen, Dionysus's kids were actually good athletes,

"**Dionysus was a good athlete when he was a demigod," Athena said. "But he became lazy when he was offered to become a god."**

but there were only two of them. Demeter's  
kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff but they weren't very aggressive. Aphrodite's sons  
and daughters I wasn't too worried about. They mostly sat out every activity and checked their  
reflections in the lake and did their hair and gossiped.

**Aphrodite smiled proudly.**

Hephaestus's kids weren't pretty,

"**At all," Aphrodite agreed, making Ares grin.**

and there were  
only four of them, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. They might be a  
problem. That, of course, left Ares's cabin: a dozen of the biggest, ugliest, meanest kids on Long Island,

"**You mean the biggest kids in the mortal world," Ares said, with a sort of fierce pride.**

"**I'm not sure if what I was saying was a compliment," Percy grumbled**

or anywhere else on the planet.  
Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.  
"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair  
game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than  
two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is  
allowed.

"**Gods, I hate that rule," Ares sighed.**

I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"  
He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords,  
spears, ox-hide shields coated in metal.  
"Whoa," I said. "We're really supposed to use these?"  
Luke looked at me as if I were crazy. "Unless you want to get skewered by your friends in cabin five.  
Here—Chiron thought these would fit. You'll be on border patrol."  
My shield was the size of an NBA backboard, with a big caduceus in the middle.

"**Geez," Percy mumbled.**

"**It's always big on newbies," Annabeth assured him. "But after a while the Hephaestus cabin makes on that would fit your size."**

It weighed about a  
million pounds. I could have snowboarded on it fine, but I hoped nobody seriously expected me to run  
fast.

"**They don't expect you to run at all," Jason said. "Heavy armor is for defense, meaning you're going to defend yourself. Light armor is for offensive, which would mean that **_**you'll**_** have to go forward and take the flag."**

My helmet, like all the helmets on Athena's side, had a blue horsehair plume on top. Ares and their  
allies had red plumes.  
Annabeth yelled, "Blue team, forward!"  
We cheered and shook our swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team  
yelled taunts at us as they headed off toward the north.  
I managed to catch up with Annabeth without tripping over my equipment. "Hey."  
She kept marching.  
"So what's the plan?" I asked. "Got any magic items you can loan me?"  
Her hand drifted toward her pocket, as if she were afraid I'd stolen something.

"**I don't steal," Percy said. "I wasn't raised by wolves, you know."**

"**You will learn how to steal," Annabeth said, almost sympathetically, as though it was bad to not steal. "All demigods learn it at their own time."**

"Just watch Clarisse's spear," she said. "You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry.  
We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"  
"Border patrol, whatever that means."  
"It's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan."

**Athena nodded approvingly.**

She pushed ahead, leaving me in the dust.  
"Okay," I mumbled. "Glad you wanted me on your team."

**Aphrodite groaned. "It's like you **_**want**_** to make this difficult for me, daughter of Athena. I blame your mother, she was always a dud at romance."**

**Athena glared. "I am not a dud, Aphrodite."**

"**Whatever you say, sister," Aphrodite said airily.**

It was a warm, sticky night. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view .Annabeth  
stationed me next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, then she and the rest of the team  
scattered into the trees.  
Standing there alone, with my big blue-feathered helmet and my huge shield, I felt like an idiot.

"**You probably looked like one too," Zeus said 'reassuringly'.**

The  
bronze sword, like all the swords I'd tried so far, seemed balanced wrong. The leather grip pulled on my  
hand like a bowling ball.  
There was no way anybody would actually attack me, would they?

"**You're thinking like a Mortal again," Annabeth said. "Didn't I tell you to stop?"**

"**You told **_**me**_** to stop," Percy said. "But you didn't tell my book-self to stop."**

I mean, Olympus had to have liability  
issues, right?

**Ares burst out laughing with the other gods.**

"**What myths are you reading, boy?" Ares guffawed.**

**Percy scowled. "This isn't a myth, though. This is real life."**

"**I think you'll learn, son of Poseidon," Athena said. "That all myths are true in some way. One day, this very book we're reading will be considered a myth."**

**Percy didn't like the thought of anyone reading these books, but he definitely didn't like the thought of people thinking the adventures were myths. He felt a stab of sympathy for the immortals.**

Far away, the conch horn blew. I heard whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, kids  
fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past me like a deer, leaped through the creek, and  
disappeared into enemy territory.  
Great, I thought. I'll miss all the fun, as usual.

"**You were just scared of being skewered," Artemis said. "You boys and your mixed thoughts. Make up your mind."**

**Percy grimaced.**

Then I heard a sound that sent a chill up my spine, a low canine growl, somewhere close by.

**Poseidon narrowed his eyes and leaned forward.**

I raised my shield instinctively; I had the feeling some-thing was stalking me.  
Then the growling stopped. I felt the presence retreating.  
On the other side of the creek, the underbrush exploded. Five Ares warriors came yelling and  
screaming out of the dark.  
"Cream the punk!" Clarisse screamed.

"**Yeah!" Ares roared, raising a shaking fist. "Come on, Clarisse!"**

Her ugly pig eyes glared through the slits of her helmet. She brandished a five-foot-long spear, its barbed  
metal tip flickering with red light. Her siblings had only the standard-issue bronze swords—not that that  
made me feel any better.  
They charged across the stream. There was no help in sight. I could run. Or I could defend myself  
against half the Ares cabin.

**Annabeth bit her lip, feeling a bit concerned. She knew what her plan was, let Luke get the flag and go back to help Percy; but what if she didn't get there in time?**

"**Gee," Percy said in annoyance. "**_**That's**_** a fair fight. What? Are they too scared to fight fairly?"**

"**All is fair in war," Ares said, a nasty smile on his face.**

"**All is fair in **_**love**_** and war," Aphrodite said. "They are always connected somehow…"**

I managed to sidestep the first kid's swing, but these guys were not as stupid the Minotaur.

"**Did you expect them to be?" Athena asked. "They are the children of war, they know every tactic in the book."**

"**Is it so bad that I hoped?" Percy said.**

"**You shouldn't hope that your opponents are bad," Athena said. "You should fight them like they're the hardest person you've even fought before, that makes you more dangerous."**

They  
surrounded me, and Clarisse thrust at me with her spear. My shield deflected the point, but I felt a painful  
tingling all over my body. My hair stood on end. My shield arm went numb, and the air burned.

"**I really **_**hate**_** electricity now," Percy said through gritted teeth.**

Electricity. Her stupid spear was electric.

"**Her spear is anything but stupid," Ares said. "I gave it to her."**

"**Which makes it even **_**more**_** stupid," Percy said under his breath.**

I fell back.  
Another Ares guy slammed me in the chest with the butt of his sword and I hit the dirt.  
They could've kicked me into jelly, but they were too busy laughing.

"**That's not smart," Athena noted.**

"**They're toying with him," Artemis said. "Not actually trying to start a war. They want to humiliate him and by his red face at the moment, I'm guessing that they are doing a good job at it."**

"Give him a haircut," Clarisse said. "Grab his hair."

**Percy unconsciously ran his hand through his dark hair. He was never fond of how it would always look messy, but he would rather keep it then become bald.**

**Annabeth was looking more and more concerned at the moment. **_**Where was she?**_

I managed to get to my feet. I raised my sword, but Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear as sparks  
flew. Now both my arms felt numb.  
"Oh, wow," Clarisse said. "I'm scared of this guy. Really scared."

"**You should be," Poseidon growled. "Step into the water, Percy."**

"**I don't think they are going to give me a chance to walk," Percy grumbled.**

"**They'll probably push you in themselves," Aphrodite said airily. "Ares' kids always did like throwing new campers into the lake. They seem to think it's funny."**

"The flag is that way," I told her. I wanted to sound angry, but I was afraid it didn't come out that way.  
"Yeah," one of her siblings said. "But see, we don't care about the flag. We care about a guy who made  
our cabin look stupid."

"**You do that without my help," Percy glowered.**

"You do that without my help," I told them.

"**You'll only get them angrier," Grover whimpered.**

"**Why don't you just hold your tongue?" Jason said in exasperation. "It'll make them less angry."**

**Percy shrugged.**

It probably wasn't the smartest thing to say.

"**Now you realize that," Reyna rolled her eyes.**

Two of them came at me. I backed up toward the creek, tried to raise my shield, but Clarisse was too  
fast. Her spear stuck me straight in the ribs. If I hadn't been wearing an armored breastplate, I would've  
been shish-kebabbed. As it was, the electric point just about shocked my teeth out of my mouth. One of  
her cabin mates slashed his sword across my arm, leaving a good-size cut.

"**No maiming!" Annabeth protested.**

"**What's the punishment?" Percy said, excited to hear what the Ares cabin would h=go through.**

"**No desert for a week," Annabeth said.**

**Percy looked visibly deflated. "Not much," he managed to say.**

Seeing my own blood made me dizzy—warm and cold at the same time.

"**Get used to it," Ares said. "You're going to see a lot fo blood, most of it being your blood."**

"**Why would you say that?" Percy said wearily.**

**All the gods, Annabeth, and Grover exchanged glances, thinking of the prophecy.**

"No maiming," I managed to say.  
"Oops," the guy said. "Guess I lost my dessert privilege."  
He pushed me into the creek and I landed with a splash.

"**Told you," Aphrodite said.**

They all laughed. I figured as soon as they were  
through being amused, I would die.

"**Better believe it," Ares said.**

But then something happened. The water seemed to wake up my  
senses, as if I'd just had a bag of my mom's double-espresso jelly beans.  
Clarisse and her cabin mates came into the creek to get me, but I stood to meet them. I knew what to  
do. I swung the flat of my sword against the first guy's head and knocked his helmet clean off. I hit him so  
hard I could see his eyes vibrating as he crumpled into the water.  
Ugly Number Two and Ugly Number Three came at me. I slammed one in the face with my shield and  
used my sword to shear off the other guy's horsehair plume. Both of them backed up quick. Ugly  
Number Four didn't look really anxious to attack, but Clarisse kept coming, the point of her spear  
crackling with energy. As soon as she thrust, I caught the shaft between the edge of my shield and my  
sword, and I snapped it like a twig.

**Annabeth heard this with a sense of overwhelming excitement. The prophecy was right – Percy **_**could**_** save Olympus with her help. She had been doubtful, but now it just confirmed it. The thought of saving Olympus made her feel a certain thrill, she saw herself with her mother congratulating her and Luke finally looking at her with the same love she had for him.**

**Percy, meanwhile, was grinning widely at Ares. "Clarisse is going to kick my butt, huh?"**

**Ares had his teeth clenched. "I don't usually fight my kids battles, but you are pushing it."**

"**Why don't you fight their battles?" Percy quipped. "Too scared if they don't stand a chance then you won't either."**

"**I wouldn't get so cocky, punk," Ares said. "There is no water here you can use."**

"**I don't think I need water to kick your butt-"**

"**I think we should begin to read, again," Reyna said, though her eyes sparkled with amusement. "Grover?"**

**Grover nodded and continue to read.**

"Ah!" she screamed. "You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!"

"**She thinks I'm Hades' kid?" Percy said.**

"**No," Grover said. "She just likes to throw random insults at people."**

"**That's… weird."**

"**That's Clarisse," Annabeth said.**

She probably would've said worse, but I smacked her between the eyes with my sword-butt and sent  
her stumbling backward out of the creek.  
Then I heard yelling, elated screams, and I saw Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red  
team's banner lifted high.

"**Why would they run there?" Percy frowned.**

"**I probably told everyone my plan," Annabeth said. "And they wanted to go help you before you got beaten up **_**too**_** badly. I guess it was unnecessary, you pulled off fine by yourself."**

"**After I got cut with a sword," Percy said, a little miffed that everyone knew he was bait and didn't say anything to him.**

He was flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few  
Apollos behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. The Ares folks got up, and Clarisse muttered a  
dazed curse.  
"A trick!" she shouted. "It was a trick."

"**A well planned, cruel trick," Percy huffed.**

**Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Don't act like you wouldn't enjoy beating up half the Ares cabin."**

**Percy smiled at the thought.**

They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across  
into friendly territory. Our side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The  
boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven.

"**Cool," Percy said, impressed.**

Everybody on the blue  
team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the  
woods and blew the conch horn.  
The game was over. We'd won.

"**You sound excited," Jason said.**

"**I'm elated, can't you tell?"**

I was about to join the celebration when Annabeth's voice, right next to me in the creek, said, "Not bad,  
hero."

"**Not bad?" Percy scoffed. "It was better then not bad."**

"**It was," Annabeth smiled. "Good job, Seaweed Brain."**

**Percy felt something stir inside the pit of his stomach when he met her grey eyes, but he just grinned and turned away.**

I looked, but she wasn't there.  
"Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?" she asked. The air shimmered, and she materialized,  
holding a Yankees baseball cap as if she'd just taken it off her head.

"**Best present ever," Annabeth said so her mother could hear.**

**Athena smiled proudly at her daughter.**

I felt myself getting angry. I wasn't even fazed by the fact that she'd just been invisible. "You set me up,"  
I said. "You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around  
the flank. You had it all figured out."

"**Athena always has a plan," Annabeth shrugged.**

Annabeth shrugged. "I told you. Athena always, always has a plan."  
"A plan to get me pulverized."  
"I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in, but ..." She shrugged. "You didn't need help."  
Then she noticed my wounded arm. "How did you do that?"  
"Sword cut," I said. "What do you think?"  
"No. It was a sword cut. Look at it."  
The blood was gone. Where the huge cut had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was  
fading. As I watched, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared.

"**Cool," Percy said. "So the water heals me too?"**

"**That's not fair," Jason frowned. "Lightning doesn't heal me. In fact, lightning can **_**kill**_** me if I'm not careful."**

**Poseidon shrugged. "Lightning is dangerous and isn't an ally with you; mortals only learned how to control a small bit of it. Water is healing, water gives you life."**

"**Unless you're drowning in it," Percy said.**

"**My children don't drown in water," Poseidon said. "They breathe in water."**

**Percy smiled. "I like this son of Poseidon thing better and better."**

"I—I don't get it," I said.  
Annabeth was thinking hard. I could almost see the gears turning. She looked down at my feet, then at  
Clarisse's broken spear, and said, "Step out of the water, Percy."

"**And she knows you're Poseidon's son before anyone else," Athena smiled proudly.**

"What—"  
"Just do it."  
I came out of the creek and immediately felt bone tired. My arms started to go numb again. My  
adrenaline rush left me. I almost fell over, but Annabeth steadied me.  
"Oh, Styx," she cursed. "This is not good. I didn't want ... I assumed it would be Zeus... ."

"**Do I really look like a son of Zeus to you?" Percy said.**

**Annabeth inspected him, and admitted that he didn't look at all like the son of Zeus. Zeus' kids were broad shouldered and tough looking; while Poseidon's kids were more lean and had a bit less muscle.**

Before I could ask what she meant, I heard that canine growl again, but much closer than before. A  
howl ripped through the forest.  
The campers' cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted something in Ancient Greek, which I would realize,  
only later, I had understood perfectly: "Stand ready! My bow!"  
Annabeth drew her sword.  
There on the rocks just above us was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like  
daggers.  
It was looking straight at me.

"**Of course," Percy said. "Out of all the campers there, it has to look it me – it only makes sense."**

Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled, "Percy, run!"  
She tried to step in front of me, but the hound was too fast. It leaped over her—an enormous shadow  
with teeth—and just as it hit me, as I stumbled backward and felt its razor-sharp claws ripping through  
my armor, there was a cascade of thwacking sounds, like forty pieces of paper being ripped one after the  
other. From the hounds neck sprouted a cluster of arrows. The monster fell dead at my feet.  
By some miracle, I was still alive.

"**Apollo's kids are quick with their arrows," Annabeth said, dizzy with relief.**

"**Thank gods," Percy said.**

I didn't want to look underneath the ruins of my shredded armor. My  
chest felt warm and wet, and I knew I was badly cut. Another second, and the monster would've turned  
me into a hundred pounds of delicatessen meat.  
Chiron trotted up next to us, a bow in his hand, his face grim.  
"Di immortales!" Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't ... they're  
not supposed to ..."  
"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."  
Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone.

"**I hope he's not upset about it," Percy frowned.**

"**No," Annabeth shook her head. "Luke doesn't care about glory. I think he's more worried for you than anything."**

Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"

"**Yes, because I obviously want to die," Percy said sarcastically.**

"Be quiet, child," Chiron told her.  
We watched the body of the hellhound melt into shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared.  
"You're wounded," Annabeth told me. "Quick, Percy, get in the water."  
"I'm okay."  
"No, you're not," she said. "Chiron, watch this."  
I was too tired to argue. I stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around me.  
Instantly, I felt better. I could feel the cuts on my chest closing up. Some of the campers gasped.  
"Look, I—I don't know why," I said, trying to apologize.

"**Apologize for healing?" Artemis shook her head. "You are one strange young boy, Percy Jackson."**

"**Um, thanks?"**

"I'm sorry..."  
But they weren't watching my wounds heal. They were staring at something above my head.  
"Percy," Annabeth said, pointing. "Um ..."  
By the time I looked up, the sign was already fading, but I could still make out the hologram of green  
light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.  
"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good."  
"It is determined," Chiron announced.  
All around me, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin,

**Percy couldn't help but laugh at that.**

though they didn't look happy about it.  
"My father?" I asked, completely bewildered.

"**It's always fun to see their expressions," Jason laughed.**

"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of  
the Sea God."

"**Well," Grover said, handing the book to Reyna. "That was suspenseful."**

"**And totally awesome!" Percy said. "The Ares campers are kneeling for me!"**

"**It won't last long," Annabeth said. "And they'll most likely get payback on you afterwards… but I'm sure it feels good for you."**

"**Yes," Percy smiled.**

"**Can I read now?" Reyna asked, though she was smiling,**

"**Go right ahead."**


	9. I Am Offered A Quest

I AM OFFERED  
A QUEST

"**No question what that means," Reyna said. "But it's weird how you got a quest so early – especially since Grover doubted you'd be given a quest if you were a son of the big three…"**

"**I'm special," Percy smiled.**

"**In more ways than one," Annabeth said.**

"**Hey!" Percy said, smiling.**

The next morning, Chiron moved me to cabin three.

"**A whole cabin to myself?" Percy said, eyebrows raised. "Cool."**

"**I bet it is," Annabeth said wistfully. Though she loved her siblings, her cabin was so crowded sometimes, and she hardly had anywhere to put her things. Annabeth wondered if Thalia would have liked Zeus' cabin.**

"**The only people who have cabins all to their selves are the Praetors," Jason said, then frowned. "I was hoping that I'd be made Praetor by now…"**

"**I'm sure you'd be an excellent Praetor," Reyna assured him.**

**Jason smiled at her. "Thanks Reyna; if you went to Camp Jupiter, you'd be too."**

I didn't have to share with anybody. I had plenty of room for all my stuff: the Minotaur's horn, one set of  
spare clothes, and a toiletry bag. I got to sit at my own dinner table, pick all my own activities, call "lights  
out" whenever I felt like it, and not listen to anybody else.

"**And I was having the time of my life," Percy grinned.**

And I was absolutely miserable.

**Percy frowned. "That's not right."**

"**Maybe you'll think differently if you were actually given your own cabin," Reyna said. "And it does sound a bit lonely."**

"**I guess," Percy frowned.**

Just when I'd started to feel accepted, to feel I had a home in cabin eleven and I might be a normal  
kid—or as normal as you can be when you're a half-blood—I'd been separated out as if I had some rare  
disease.

"**Huh," Percy frowned. "Now I'm not looking forward to Camp all that much."**

"**It's not bad," Grover said. "Even us Satyrs have fun. You have to give it a chance – your book-self did."**

"**Right," Percy said. "I'm just going to pretend like that wasn't a weird thing to hear."**

Nobody mentioned the hellhound, but I got the feeling they were all talking about it behind my back.

"**Of course they are," Jason said. "They are not really going to sit around and not think about it."**

"**Still sucks," Percy said.**

The  
attack had scared everybody. It sent two messages: one, that I was the son of the Sea God; and two,  
monsters would stop at nothing to kill me. They could even invade a camp that had always been  
considered safe.  
The other campers steered clear of me as much as possible.

"**It's not like it's my fault," Percy protested.**

"**But it has something to do with you," Athena said. "So it would be best for people to steer clear of you."**

"**Or they can try to talk to you and figure the hellhound mystery out," Annabeth said. "I bet that's what I'm doing."**

"**What, faking being my friend?" Percy said, getting angry. "Thanks, Wise Girl, that's exactly what I want to hear."**

**Annabeth looked taken aback. "That's not what I meant."**

"**It's what you said," Percy said.**

"**But it's not what I meant."**

"**Then why did you say it?"**

"**I **_**didn't**_** say it, Seaweed Brain!"**

"**Yes you did! I heard you!"**

"**I'll just read, then," Reyna said.**

Cabin eleven was too nervous to have  
sword class with me after what I'd done to the Ares folks in the woods, so my lessons with Luke  
became one-on-one.

"**Oh, come on," Ares said. "That would make me want to pulverize you even more!"**

"**Thanks," Percy said. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear."**

"**No problem, Punk."**

He pushed me harder than ever, and wasn't afraid to bruise me up in the process.

**Annabeth frowned. "That's not right. Luke doesn't train people like that."**

"**What do you mean?" Percy frowned. "You said that he pushes people hard because the monsters would push you hard."**

"**Yes but he never bruises people frequently," Annabeth looked worried. "I wonder if something is bothering him."**

"You're going to need all the training you can get," he promised, as we were working with swords and  
flaming torches. "Now let's try that viper-beheading strike again. Fifty more repetitions."  
Annabeth still taught me Greek in the mornings, but she seemed distracted. Every time I said something,  
she scowled at me, as if I'd just poked her between the eyes.

"**Don't take it personally," Poseidon assured his son. "Athena looks at me like that all the time."**

"**She doesn't look at me like that," Zeus said smugly.**

"**Nor me," Artemis felt the need to put in.**

"**In other words," Jason said. "You should take it personally, Percy."**

After lessons, she would walk away muttering to herself: "Quest ... Poseidon? ... Dirty rotten ... Got to  
make a plan ..."  
Even Clarisse kept her distance, though her venomous looks made it clear she wanted to kill me for  
breaking her magic spear. I wished she would just yell or punch me or something. I'd rather get into fights  
every day than be ignored.

"**Me too," Ares said, then looked amused. "Who would have thought that I had something in common with a **_**demigod**_**?"**

"**Who would have thought I had something in common with **_**that**_**?" Percy mumbled under his breath.**

I knew somebody at camp resented me, because one night I came into my cabin and found a mortal  
newspaper dropped inside the doorway, a copy of the New York Daily News, opened to the Metro  
page. The article took me almost an hour to read, because the angrier I got, the more the words floated  
around on the page.  
BOY AND MOTHER STILL MISSING AFTER  
FREAK CAR ACCIDENT  
BY EILEEN SMYTHE  
Sally Jackson and son Percy are still missing one week after their mysterious disappearance. The family's  
badly burned '78 Camaro was discovered last Saturday on a north Long Island road with the roof ripped  
off and the front axle broken. The car had flipped and skidded for several hundred feet before exploding.  
Mother and son had gone for a weekend vacation to Montauk, but left hastily, under mysterious circumstances. Small traces of blood were found in the car and near the scene of the wreck, but there were no  
other signs of the missing Jacksons. Residents in the rural area reported seeing nothing unusual around the  
time of the accident.  
Ms. Jackson's husband, Gabe Ugliano, claims that his stepson, Percy Jackson, is a troubled child who  
has been kicked out of numerous boarding schools and has expressed violent tendencies in the past.  
Police would not say whether son Percy is a suspect in his mother's disappearance, but they have not  
ruled out foul play. Below are recent pictures of Sally Jackson and Percy. Police urge anyone with  
information to call the following toll-free crime-stoppers hotline.

**Annabeth had her hands clenched. "Your stepdad is a big, **_**big**_** jerk."**

"**You're telling me," Percy said angrily. "I can't believe he said that I was a troubled child!"**

"**Now you have the whole of New York looking for you," Grover said.**

"**Thanks, Grover, I really needed more bad news," Percy said, it came out harsh.**

**Grover blushed. "Sorry, man."**

**Percy just turned away and crossed his arms.**

The phone number was circled in black marker.  
I wadded up the paper and threw it away, then flopped down in my bunk bed in the middle of my empty  
cabin.  
"Lights out," I told myself miserably.  
That night, I had my worst dream yet.

"**Worst then barn animals?" Aphrodite raised her eyebrows and her lips parted in disbelief. "You poor child."**

**Percy wasn't amused.**

I was running along the beach in a storm. This time, there was a city behind me. Not New York. The  
sprawl was different: buildings spread farther apart, palm trees and low hills in the distance.  
About a hundred yards down the surf, two men were fighting. They looked like TV wrestlers, muscular,  
with beards and long hair. Both wore flowing Greek tunics, one trimmed in blue,

"**Me," Zeus said. "Blue is my color."**

the other in green.

"**That'll be me," Poseidon said.**

They  
grappled with each other, wrestled, kicked and head-butted,

"**No one ever wins in a head-butt," Jason said.**

"**Speaking from experience?" Reyna asked, looking as though she wanted to smile.**

**Jason grimaced and rubbed the back of his head. "Definitly."**

and every time they connected, lightning  
flashed, the sky grew darker, and the wind rose.  
I had to stop them. I didn't know why. But the harder I ran, the more the wind blew me back, until I was  
running in place, my heels digging uselessly in the sand.  
Over the roar of the storm, I could hear the blue-robed one yelling at the green-robed one, Give it back!  
Give it back! Like a kindergartner fighting over a toy.

"**I do not sound like a kindergartner fighting for a toy!" Zeus objected, his eyes flashing dangerously. He did sound like a kindergartner, but he **_**looked**_** like a very scary one. "I am a god fighting for my lightning bolt!"**

The waves got bigger, crashing into the beach, spraying me with salt.  
I yelled, Stop it! Stop fighting!  
The ground shook. Laughter came from somewhere under the earth, and a voice so deep and evil it  
turned my blood to ice.  
Come down, little hero, the voice crooned. Come down!

"**That's disturbing," Percy said, looking shaken.**

"**It most definitely is," Grover shuddered.**

The sand split beneath me, opening up a crevice straight down to the center of the earth. My feet  
slipped, and dark-ness swallowed me.  
I woke up, sure I was falling.  
I was still in bed in cabin three. My body told me it was morning, but it was dark outside, and thunder  
rolled across the hills. A storm was brewing. I hadn't dreamed that.  
I heard a clopping sound at the door, a hoof knocking on the threshold.  
"Come in?"  
Grover trotted inside, looking worried. "Mr. D wants to see you."  
"Why?"

"**He's going to give you a quest," Annabeth said, her eyes lightening. "And I'm going!"**

"**We'll need you," Percy smiled.**

"**We?" Annabeth said.**

"**Grover and I," Percy said. "You're coming, right, Grover?"**

**Grover's eyes were wide. "Ugh – yeah! Of course, Perce!"**

"He wants to kill... I mean, I'd better let him tell you."

"**That's reassuring," Jason said.**

Nervously, I got dressed and followed, sure that I was in huge trouble.  
For days, I'd been half expecting a summons to the Big House. Now that I was declared a son of  
Poseidon, one of the Big Three gods who weren't supposed to have kids, I figured it was a crime for me  
just to be alive.

"**It is," Athena glared at Poseidon. "I must say that I'm shocked the only one who **_**hadn't**_** broken the oath was Hades."**

"**I am too," Poseidon frowned. "I **_**am**_** the most trustworthy one, after all."**

**Zeus glared, but he didn't say anything because he knew it was true.**

The other gods had probably been debating the best way to punish me for existing, and  
now Mr. D was ready to deliver their verdict.

"**You really are a ray of sunshine," Jason said.**

"**You would be thinking these things too if you were in my place," Percy said.**

"**I **_**am**_** in your place," Jason said. "I'm the son of Zeus."**

"**You're the son of **_**Jupiter**_**," Percy said. "They must not have wanted to kill you because you're Roman and they took the oath in their Greek form."**

"**That made sense," Annabeth said, surprised.**

**Percy grimaced at her. "I don't like how surprised you sound."**

**Annabeth didn't say anything because she was still surprised.**

Over Long Island Sound, the sky looked like ink soup coming to a boil. A hazy curtain of rain was  
coming in our direction. I asked Grover if we needed an umbrella.  
"No," he said. "It never rains here unless we want it to."  
I pointed at the storm. "What the heck is that, then?"  
He glanced uneasily at the sky. "It'll pass around us. Bad weather always does."  
I realized he was right. In the week I'd been here, it had never even been overcast. The few rain clouds  
I'd seen had skirted right around the edges of the valley.

"**Why didn't Chiron just say that happened instead of looking at me weirdly?" Percy grumbled. "He acted as though it was the weirdest question he'd ever heard."**

"**Chiron is… weird," Grover said.**

But this storm ... this one was huge.  
At the volleyball pit, the kids from Apollo's cabin were playing a morning game against the satyrs.  
Dionysus's twins were walking around in the strawberry fields, making the plants grow. Everybody was  
going about their normal business, but they looked tense. They kept their eyes on the storm.  
Grover and I walked up to the front porch of the Big House. Dionysus sat at the pinochle table in his  
tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt with his Diet Coke, just as he had on my first day. Chiron sat across the table  
in his fake wheel-chair. They were playing against invisible opponents-two sets of cards hovering in the  
air.  
"Well, well," Mr. D said without looking up. "Our little celebrity."  
I waited.  
"Come closer," Mr. D said. "And don't expect me to kowtow to you, mortal, just because old  
Barnacle-Beard is your father."

**Poseidon looked furious. "How dare he say that!"**

**Thunder roared.**

"**He's bitter," Athena said. "And he holds no respect for you."**

"**He should," Poseidon said dangerously. "I can blast him to Tartarus right now with a snap of my fingers."**

A net of lightning flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows of the house.  
"Blah, blah, blah," Dionysus said.  
Chiron feigned interest in his pinochle cards. Grover cowered by the railing, his hooves clopping back  
and forth.  
"If I had my way," Dionysus said, "I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep up the  
ashes and be done with a lot of trouble. But Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at this  
cursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm."

"**And he seems happy to do it," Aphrodite said dryly. "Really, Father, why would you send **_**Dionysus**_** to that camp?"**

"**It was the best punishment for him," Zeus said.**

"Spontaneous combustionis a form of harm, Mr. D," Chiron put in.  
"Nonsense," Dionysus said. "Boy wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself I'm  
thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead, sending you back to your father."

**At this, Artemis frowned. "That's not right."**

"**Thank you," Percy said, annoyed with Dionysus.**

"**I mean… why a dolphin?" Artemis said. "A jackalope is understandable, but a **_**dolphin**_**?"**

**Athena blinked at Artemis. "Is that a **_**joke**_**, Artemis?"**

**Artemis just shrugged.**

"Mr. D—" Chiron warned.  
"Oh, all right," Dionysus relented. "There's one more option. But it's deadly foolishness." Dionysus rose,  
and the invisible players' cards dropped to the table. "I'm off to Olympus for the emergency meeting. If  
the boy is still here when I get back, I'll turn him into an Atlantic bottlenose. Do you understand? And  
Perseus Jackson, if you're at all smart, you'll see that's a much more sensible choice than what Chiron  
feels you must do."  
Dionysus picked up a playing card, twisted it, and it became a plastic rectangle. A credit card? No. A  
security pass.  
He snapped his fingers.  
The air seemed to fold and bend around him. He became a hologram, then a wind, then he was gone,  
leaving only the smell of fresh-pressed grapes lingering behind.

"**That was sort of cool," Percy allowed reluctantly. **

Chiron smiled at me, but he looked tired and strained. "Sit, Percy, please. And Grover."  
We did.  
Chiron laid his cards on the table, a winning hand he hadn't gotten to use.  
"Tell me, Percy," he said. "What did you make of the hellhound?"  
Just hearing the name made me shudder.  
Chiron probably wanted me to say, Heck, it was nothing. I eat hellhounds for breakfast. But I didn't  
feel like lying.  
"It scared me," I said. "If you hadn't shot it, I'd be dead."

"**A boy saying he was scared?" Artemis raised one eyebrow. "Strange. Zoe will never believe me."**

"You'll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you're done."  
"Done ... with what?"  
"Your quest, of course. Will you accept it?"  
I glanced at Grover, who was crossing his fingers.  
"Um, sir," I said, "you haven't told me what it is yet."  
Chiron grimaced. "Well, that's the hard part, the details."  
Thunder rumbled across the valley. The storm clouds had now reached the edge of the beach. As far as  
I could see, the sky and the sea were boiling together.  
"Poseidon and Zeus," I said. "They're fighting over something valuable ... something that was stolen,  
aren't they?"  
Chiron and Grover exchanged looks.  
Chiron sat forward in his wheelchair. "How did you know that?"

"**I had a dream," Percy said. "Do you think he'd believe me?"**

"**Demigods always have dreams," Annabeth said. "And they always dream about **_**something, **_**so yes, he'd believe you."**

My face felt hot. I wished I hadn't opened my big mouth. "The weather since Christmas has been weird,  
like the sea and the sky are fighting. Then I talked to Annabeth, and she'd overheard something about a  
theft. And ... I've also been having these dreams."  
"I knew it," Grover said.

"**Knew what?" Percy asked.**

**Grover shrugged. "I don't know – That's not me… at the moment."**

"Hush, satyr," Chiron ordered.  
"But it is his quest!" Grover's eyes were bright with excitement. "It must be!"  
"Only the Oracle can determine." Chiron stroked his bristly beard. "Nevertheless, Percy, you are  
correct. Your father and Zeus are having their worst quarrel in centuries. They are fighting over something  
valuable that was stolen. To be precise: a lightning bolt."  
I laughed nervously. "A what?"

"**Don't take you quests lightly," Ares said. "It's a chance to prove yourself."**

"Do not take this lightly," Chiron warned. "I'm not talking about some tinfoil-covered zigzag you'd see in  
a second-grade play. I'm talking about a two-foot-long cylinder of high-grade celestial bronze, capped  
on both ends with god-level explosives."

"**Whoa," Percy said.**

"**Whoa is correct," Zeus said, pleased with the reaction.**

**Beside him, Poseidon rolled his eyes.**

"Oh."  
"Zeus's master bolt," Chiron said, getting worked up now. "The symbol of his power, from which all  
other lightning bolts are patterned. The first weapon made by the Cyclopes for the war against the  
Titans, the bolt that sheered the top off Mount Etna and hurled Kronos from his throne; the master bolt,  
which packs enough power to make mortal hydrogen bombs look like firecrackers."

"**Okay, okay, I get it," Percy said, surprised.**

**Meanwhile, Jason was frowning. They had gotten the image of Zeus' lightning bolt wrong. He wondered if he could convince the Praetors to change it.**

"And it's missing?"  
"Stolen," Chiron said.  
"By who?"  
"By whom," Chiron corrected. Once a teacher, always a teacher.

**There was a collection of rolled eyes.**

"By you."  
My mouth fell open.  
"At least"—Chiron held up a hand—"that's what Zeus thinks. During the winter solstice, at the last  
council of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon had an argument. The usual nonsense: 'Mother Rhea always liked  
you best,' Air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters,' et cetera. Afterward, Zeus realized his  
master bolt was missing, taken from the throne room under his very nose. He immediately blamed  
Poseidon. Now, a god cannot usurp another god's symbol of power directly—that is forbidden by the  
most ancient of divine laws. But Zeus believes your father convinced a human hero to take it."  
"But I didn't—"  
"Patience and listen, child," Chiron said. "Zeus has good reason to be suspicious.

"**That he does," Athena nodded.**

"**No he doesn't," Poseidon said. "He's just upset that he lost his toy by some mortal."**

The forges of the  
Cyclopes are under the ocean, which gives Poseidon some influence over the makers of his brother's  
lightning. Zeus believes Poseidon has taken the master bolt, and is now secretly having the Cyclopes  
build an arsenal of illegal copies, which might be used to topple Zeus from his throne. The only thing Zeus  
wasn't sure about was which hero Poseidon used to steal the bolt. Now Poseidon has openly claimed  
you as his son. You were in New York over the winter holidays. You could easily have snuck into  
Olympus. Zeus believes he has found his thief."

"**Oh, yes, let's all blame Poseidon and his kid," Percy said. "Just because we're scared sea disasters are better."**

**Percy shouldn't have been mad, but he was. In all the myths, Zeus made more mistakes then Poseidon **_**and**_** Hades put together, but everyone always took his side because he was king god.**

**Poseidon gave Percy an understanding smile, as though he had read his thoughts.**

"But I've never even been to Olympus! Zeus is crazy!"

**Zeus glared at Percy.**

Chiron and Grover glanced nervously at the sky. The clouds didn't seem to be parting around us, as  
Grover had promised. They were rolling straight over our valley, sealing us in like a coffin lid.  
"Er, Percy ...?" Grover said. "We don't use the c -word to describe the Lord of the Sky."  
"Perhaps paranoid," Chiron suggested. "Then again, Poseidon has tried to unseat Zeus before.

**There they went again, trying to redeem Zeus even though he was acting like an unreasonable child.**

I believe  
that was question thirty-eight on your final exam..." He looked at me as if he actually expected me to  
remember question thirty-eight.  
How could anyone accuse me of stealing a god's weapon? I couldn't even steal a slice of pizza from  
Gabe's poker party without getting busted.

"**You'll make Hermes' kids feint," Annabeth said.**

Chiron was waiting for an answer.  
"Something about a golden net?" I guessed. "Poseidon and Hera and a few other gods ... they, like,  
trapped Zeus and wouldn't let him out until he promised to be a better ruler, right?"

**Percy chuckled as he imagined this.**

"**It wasn't funny," Zeus said as other people started to chuckle. "It was **_**annoying**_**."**

"**But it worked," Poseidon said. "You've become at least a fraction better."**

"Correct," Chiron said. "And Zeus has never trusted Poseidon since. Of course, Poseidon denies  
stealing the master bolt. He took great offense at the accusation. The two have been arguing back and  
forth for months, threatening war. And now, you've come along—the proverbial last straw."  
"But I'm just a kid!"  
"Percy," Grover cut in, "if you were Zeus, and you already thought your brother was plotting to  
overthrow you, then your brother suddenly admitted he had broken the sacred oath he took after World  
War II, that he's fathered a new mortal hero who might be used as a weapon against you... Wouldn't  
that put a twist in your toga?"

"**I'm not Zeus," Percy said.**

"**Yeah, you aren't," Zeus said.**

"**And I wouldn't throw around accusations for no reason," Percy continued. "And he broke the oath himself, so he shouldn't be so upset about it."**

"**I am king god," Zeus said. "I can break it if I want."**

**Percy, seeing the set-in-stone look in Zeus' eyes, decided to just let it go.**

"But I didn't do anything. Poseidon—my dad—he didn't really have this master bolt stolen, did he?"  
Chiron sighed. "Most thinking observers would agree that thievery is not Poseidon's style.

"**It isn't." Poseidon said firmly.**

But the Sea  
God is too proud to try convincing Zeus of that. Zeus has demanded that Poseidon return the bolt by the  
summer solstice. That's June twenty-first, ten days from now. Poseidon wants an apology for being called  
a thief by the same date. I hoped that diplomacy might prevail, that Hera or Demeter or Hestia would  
make the two brothers see sense. But your arrival has inflamed Zeus's temper. Now neither god will  
back down. Unless someone intervenes, unless the master bolt is found and returned to Zeus before the  
solstice, there will be war. And do you know what a full-fledged war would look like, Percy?"  
"Bad?" I guessed.  
"Imagine the world in chaos. Nature at war with itself. Olympians forced to choose sides between Zeus  
and Poseidon. Destruction. Carnage. Millions dead. Western civilization turned into a battleground so big  
it will make the Trojan War look like a water-balloon fight."

"**Really bad," Percy said.**

"Bad," I repeated.  
"And you, Percy Jackson, would be the first to feel Zeus's wrath."  
It started to rain. Volleyball players stopped their game and stared in stunned silence at the sky.  
I had brought this storm to Half-Blood Hill. Zeus was punishing the whole camp because of me. I was  
furious.  
"So I have to find the stupid bolt," I said.

"**It is not stupid!" Zeus said. "Would you think it so stupid if I aim it at you right now?"**

**Percy gave it an apprehensive look and thought it best to keep silent.**

"And return it to Zeus."  
"What better peace offering," Chiron said, "than to have the son of Poseidon return Zeus's property?"

"**I'm being used," Percy mumbled. "I can't believe I'm being used."**

"If Poseidon doesn't have it, where is the thing?"  
"I believe I know." Chiron's expression was grim. "Part of a prophecy I had years ago ... well, some of  
the lines make sense to me, now. But before I can say more, you must officially take up the quest. You  
must seek the counsel of the Oracle."  
"Why can't you tell me where the bolt is beforehand?"  
"Because if I did, you would be too afraid to accept the challenge."  
I swallowed. "Good reason."  
"You agree then?"  
I looked at Grover, who nodded encouragingly.  
Easy for him. I was the one Zeus wanted to kill.

"**I'm sorry," Grover sighed. "But if we make it through the quest… my dreams will come true."**

**Percy sighed. "It's okay, man. And we will. Make it through the quest, I mean."**

**Grover beamed.**

"All right," I said. "It's better than being turned into a dolphin."  
"Then it's time you consulted the Oracle," Chiron said. "Go upstairs, Percy Jackson, to the attic. When  
you come back down, assuming you're still sane, we will talk more."

"**He really does know how to encourage people, right?" Percy said.**

"**He probably wants to prepare you," Annabeth said. "It'll be less of a shock."**

Four flights up, the stairs ended under a green trap-door.  
I pulled the cord. The door swung down, and a wooden ladder clattered into place.  
The warm air from above smelled like mildew and rotten wood and something else ... a smell I  
remembered from biology class. Reptiles. The smell of snakes.  
I held my breath and climbed.  
The attic was filled with Greek hero junk: armor stands covered in cobwebs; once-bright shields pitted  
with rust; old leather steamer trunks plastered with stickers saying ITHAKA, CIRCE'S ISLE,

**Reyna smiled at the mention of Circe.**

and LAND  
OF THE AMAZONS. One long table was stacked with glass jars filled with pickled things —severed  
hairy claws, huge yellow eyes, various other parts of monsters. A dusty mounted trophy on the wall  
looked like a giant snake's head, but with horns and a full set of shark's teeth. The plaque read, HYDRA  
HEAD #1, WOODSTOCK, N.Y., 1969.  
By the window, sitting on a wooden tripod stool, was the most gruesome memento of all: a mummy.

"**Let's add a mummy just to make it even **_**more **_**creepy," Percy grumbled.**

"**That's not **_**just**_** a mummy, Percy," Grover said.**

"**What do you mean?" Percy said, confused.**

"**You'll see."**

Not  
the wrapped-in-cloth kind, but a human female body shriveled to a husk. She wore a tie-dyed sundress,  
lots of beaded necklaces, and a headband over long black hair. The skin of her face was thin and  
leathery over her skull, and her eyes were glassy white slits, as if the real eyes had been replaced by  
marbles; she'd been dead a long, long time.  
Looking at her sent chills up my back. And that was before she sat up on her stool and opened her  
mouth. A green mist poured from the mummy's mouth, coiling over the floor in thick tendrils, hissing like  
twenty thousand snakes.

"**She's the Oracle," Percy found himself saying.**

**Annabeth nodded. "She used to be alive."**

"**What happened?" Percy said nervously. "How did she die?"**

**Annabeth shrugged. "I don't know."**

**Jason looked thoughtful. "An Oracle? We don't have those – we have Octavian. A descendent from Apollo."**

"**Descendent?" Annabeth looked confused. "Don't you mean **_**son**_**?"**

"**No, I meant what I said."**

I stumbled over myself trying to get to the trap-door, but it slammed shut. Inside  
my head, I heard a voice, slithering into one ear and coiling around my brain: I am the spirit of Delphi,  
speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and  
ask.  
I wanted to say, No thanks, wrong door, just looking for the bath-room.

"**I did too," Annabeth said. "But curiosity got the best of me."**

"**And you had too much pride to turn away," Percy guessed.**

**Annabeth shivered at how easily he said that, like it was no big deal – but it was. "Yes."**

But I forced myself to take  
a deep breath.  
The mummy wasn't alive. She was some kind of gruesome receptacle for something else, the power  
that was now swirling around me in the green mist. But its presence didn't feel evil, like my demonic math  
teacher Mrs. Dodds or the Minotaur. It felt more like the Three Fates I'd seen knitting the yarn outside  
the highway fruit stand: ancient, powerful, and definitely not human. But not particularly interested in killing  
me, either.

"**She won't want to kill you," Poseidon assured his son. "She's just going to say your quest."**

**Percy nodded.**

I got up the courage to ask, "What is my destiny?"

"**Odd," Annabeth said. "I said the same thing."**

**Percy grinned. "You think like me."**

**Athena shuddered at the very idea, but Annabeth just rolled her eyes.**

The mist swirled more thickly, collecting right in front of me and around the table with the pickled  
monster-part jars. Suddenly there were four men sitting around the table, playing cards. Their faces  
became clearer. It was Smelly Gabe and his buddies.

"**That's just what I need to make me feel better," Percy grumbled. "Why am I seeing them, anyways? They're not my destiny."**

"**No," Annabeth said. "But they are familiar to you. The Oracle shows what's familiar."**

My fists clenched, though I knew this poker party couldn't be real. It was an illusion, made out of mist.  
Gabe turned toward me and spoke in the rasping voice of the Oracle: You shall go west, and face the  
god who has turned.

"**SO that would be Hades?" Percy said.**

**Annabeth nodded. "I think so. But let's not close all our other options out too early."**

"**What other options?"**

"**We'll get them along the way."**

His buddy on the right looked up and said in the same voice: You shall find what was stolen, and see it  
safely returned.

**Zeus looked pleased. "You better."**

The guy on the left threw in two poker chips, then said: You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a  
friend.

**Percy's eyes flicked over to Annabeth, but he quickly dismissed the thought, remembering the way she had looked at him when he knocked her out of the way from the lightning bolt. She wouldn't betray him – Grover was out of the question, he was loyal to the very end, he could tell.**

Finally, Eddie, our building super, delivered the worst line of all: And you shall fail to save what  
matters most, in the end.

"**My mother," Percy looked pale.**

**Annabeth put her hand on his shoulder. "The Oracle gives mixed meanings, Percy; it might not mean it like the way you think."**

"**Right," Percy said, though his throat was tight, and he turned away from Annabeth before he could start crying like a little kid. He was only ten years old after all.**

The figures began to dissolve. At first I was too stunned to say anything, but as the mist retreated, coiling  
into a huge green serpent and slithering back into the mouth of the mummy, I cried, "Wait! What do you  
mean? What friend? What will I fail to save?"

"**It won't tell you that," Artemis said. "My brother… he likes his theatrics."**

"**He gets it from his father," Poseidon put in.**

The tail of the mist snake disappeared into the mummy's mouth. She reclined back against the wall. Her  
mouth closed tight, as if it hadn't been open in a hundred years. The attic was silent again, abandoned,  
nothing but a room full of mementos.  
I got the feeling that I could stand here until I had cob-webs, too, and I wouldn't learn anything else.  
My audience with the Oracle was over.  
"Well?" Chiron asked me.  
I slumped into a chair at the pinochle table. "She said I would retrieve what was stolen."  
Grover sat forward, chewing excitedly on the remains of a Diet Coke can. "That's great!"  
"What did the Oracle say exactly?" Chiron pressed. "This is important."  
My ears were still tingling from the reptilian voice. "She . .. she said I would go west and face a god who  
had turned. I would retrieve what was stolen and see it safely returned."  
"I knew it," Grover said.  
Chiron didn't look satisfied. "Anything else?"  
I didn't want to tell him.

"**It might make you feel better," Annabeth insisted.**

**Percy doubted this, but didn't say anything.**

What friend would betray me? I didn't have that many.

"**That'll make it easier for you to know which betrayed you," Athena said. Count all your friends in the book."**

"**Grover," Percy said, holding up one finger. "Annabeth, I guess." Annabeth felt pleased with this. "And Luke. And Chiron."**

**Annabeth felt guilty for glancing at Grover, but everyone there was so trustworthy…**

"**Luke would never do anything like that," Annabeth said. "Nor would Chiron – or Grover."**

**Grover threw her a smile.**

"**It has to be one of you," Artemis said. "Maybe it **_**is**_** this Luke boy."**

"**Why would you say that?" Annabeth demanded.**

"**Because Chiron is there to **_**help **_**heroes, not kill them," Artemis said reasonably. "And Grover needs to succeed in a quest to get his Searcher license – so it makes no sense for him to want to betray the person he's supposed to be protecting. Then there is Luke who has bad feelings toward his father, he might **_**want**_** a war so his father could be sent to Tartarus."**

**Annabeth was red with anger. "Luke would **_**never**_** do that."**

**Artemis looked at the girl carefully. "Are you sure, Daughter of Athena? It is no surprise if a boy hero betrays a friend. It has happened before. It has happened to my lieutenant."**

"**Luke would never." Annabeth seemed unable to say anything else.**

And the last line—I would fail to save what mattered most. What kind of Oracle would send me on a  
quest and tell me, Oh, by the way, you'll fail

"**You won't fail the quest," Ares said. "You'll just fail to save your mother. A tragic loss, if I do say so myself. She had so much spunk, too."**

**Percy gritted his teeth.**

How could I confess that?  
"No," I said. "That's about it."  
He studied my face. "Very well, Percy. But know this: the Oracle's words often have double meanings.  
Don't dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until events come to pass."  
I got the feeling he knew I was holding back something bad, and he was trying to make me feel better.  
"Okay," I said, anxious to change topics. "So where do I go? Who's this god in the west?"  
"Ah, think, Percy," Chiron said. "If Zeus and Poseidon weaken each other in a war, who stands to  
gain?"  
"Somebody else who wants to take over?" I guessed.  
"Yes, quite. Someone who harbors a grudge, who has been unhappy with his lot since the world was  
divided eons ago, whose kingdom would grow powerful with the deaths of millions.

**Hades was the name everyone was thinking at the moment.**

Someone who hates  
his brothers for forcing him into an oath to have no more children, an oath that both of them have now  
broken."  
I thought about my dreams, the evil voice that had spoken from under the ground. "Hades."

"**Bingo," Jason said.**

Chiron nodded. "The Lord of the Dead is the only possibility."  
A scrap of aluminum dribbled out of Grover's mouth. "Whoa, wait. Wh-what?"  
"A Fury came after Percy," Chiron reminded him. "She watched the young man until she was sure of his  
identity, then tried to kill him. Furies obey only one lord: Hades."  
"Yes, but—but Hades hates all heroes," Grover protested. "Especially if he has found out Percy is a son  
of Poseidon..."  
"A hellhound got into the forest," Chiron continued. "Those can only be summoned from the Fields of  
Punishment, and it had to be summoned by someone within the camp. Hades must have a spy here.

"**Luke," Artemis seemed convinced by this, but everyone was still hesitant on this because Annabeth seemed so certain that he wasn't. It was hard to disagree with someone so sure.**

He  
must suspect Poseidon will try to use Percy to clear his name. Hades would very much like to kill this  
young half-blood before he can take on the quest."  
"Great," I muttered. "That's two major gods who want to kill me."  
"But a quest to ..." Grover swallowed. "I mean, couldn't the master bolt be in some place like Maine?  
Maine's very nice this time of year."

"**Do you want to complete the quest, or don't you?" Ares said.**

"**I do," Grover said quietly.**

"Hades sent a minion to steal the master bolt," Chiron insisted. "He hid it in the Underworld, knowing full  
well that Zeus would blame Poseidon. I don't pretend to understand the Lord of the Dead's motives  
perfectly, or why he chose this time to start a war, but one thing is certain. Percy must go to the  
Underworld, find the master bolt, and reveal the truth."

"**He says it as though it is the most easiest thing in the world," Percy said.**

"**For you, Percy," Poseidon smiled at his son, a smile full of pride. "I'm sure it will be."**

A strange fire burned in my stomach. The weirdest thing was: it wasn't fear. It was anticipation. The  
desire for revenge.

**Ares smirked. At first he thought the boy was a wimp, but maybe he had something going for him all along.**

Hades had tried to kill me three times so far, with the Fury, the Minotaur, and the  
hellhound. It was his fault my mother had disappeared in a flash of light. Now he was trying to frame me  
and my dad for a theft we hadn't committed.  
I was ready to take him on.  
Besides, if my mother was in the Underworld ...  
Whoa, boy, said the small part of my brain that was still sane. You're a kid. Hades is a god.

"**Yes," Zeus said. "Remember your place."**

**Percy bit his lip so he wouldn't snap.**

Grover was trembling. He'd started eating pinochle cards like potato chips.  
The poor guy needed to complete a quest with me so he could get his searcher's license, whatever that  
was, but how could I ask him to do this quest, especially when the Oracle said I was destined to fail?  
This was suicide.  
"Look, if we know it's Hades," I told Chiron, "why can't we just tell the other gods? Zeus or Poseidon  
could go down to the Underworld and bust some heads."

**Poseidon laughed and Zeus allowed himself a smile. The thought of doing that appealed to them greatly.**

"Suspecting and knowing are not the same," Chiron said. "Besides, even if the other gods suspect  
Hades—and I imagine Poseidon does—they couldn't retrieve the bolt themselves. Gods cannot cross  
each other's territories except by invitation. That is another ancient rule. Heroes, on the other hand, have  
certain privileges. They can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as they're bold enough and strong  
enough to do it. No god can be held responsible for a hero's actions. Why do you think the gods always  
operate through humans?"

"**Still can't believe I'm being used," Percy said.**

"You're saying I'm being used."  
"I'm saying it's no accident Poseidon has claimed you now.

"**There is a time for everything." Percy said, feeling a bit resentment towards his father. "I get it now."**

It's a very risky gamble, but he's in a  
desperate situation. He needs you."  
My dad needs me.  
Emotions rolled around inside me like bits of glass in a kaleidoscope. I didn't know whether to feel  
resentful

_**Check**_**, Percy thought.**

or grateful

_**No check**_**.**

or happy

_**Definitely not.**_

or angry.

_**No. Not angry.**_

Poseidon had ignored me for twelve years. Now suddenly he  
needed me.

**Poseidon sighed. He was proud of his son, but humans just didn't understand the mind of the gods, they took everything so personally; they didn't understand that they weren't normal, and that mean that they wouldn't have a normal relationship with their parents. That was something Poseidon couldn't help.**

I looked at Chiron. "You've known I was Poseidon's son all along, haven't you?"  
"I had my suspicions. As I said ... I've spoken to the Oracle, too."  
I got the feeling there was a lot he wasn't telling me about his prophecy, but I decided I couldn't worry  
about that right now. After all, I was holding back information too.  
"So let me get this straight," I said. "I'm supposed go to the Underworld and confront the Lord of the  
Dead."  
"Check," Chiron said.  
"Find the most powerful weapon in the universe."  
"Check."  
"And get it back to Olympus before the summer solstice, in ten days."  
"That's about right."  
I looked at Grover, who gulped down the ace of hearts.  
"Did I mention that Maine is very nice this time of year?" he asked weakly.

"**Yes you did, Grover," Annabeth said.**

"You don't have to go," I told him. "I can't ask that of you.  
"Oh ..." He shifted his hooves. "No ... it's just that satyrs and underground places ... well..."  
He took a deep breath, then stood, brushing the shredded cards and aluminum bits off his T-shirt. "You  
saved my life, Percy. If ... if you're serious about wanting me along, I won't let you down."  
I felt so relieved I wanted to cry, though I didn't think that would be very heroic. Grover was the only  
friend I'd ever had for longer than a few months.

"**Sad," Reyna frowned. "But I guess I don't have many friends either. All I have is my sister."**

"**You have us now," Jason said, throwing his arm around her.**

**Reyna smiled at him.**

I wasn't sure what good a satyr could do against the  
forces of the dead, but I felt better knowing he'd be with me.

"**We can do a lot," Grover said, offended.**

"**I'm sure you can, G-man."**

"All the way, G-man." I turned to Chiron. "So where do we go? The Oracle just said to go west."  
"The entrance to the Underworld is always in the west. It moves from age to age, just like Olympus.  
Right now, of course, it's in America."  
"Where?"  
Chiron looked surprised. "I thought that would be obvious enough. The entrance to the Underworld is in  
Los Angeles."

"**How is that obvious?" Percy demanded.**

**Everyone looked at him.**

"**Maybe because it's obvious," Grover said in an obvious tone.**

"Oh," I said. "Naturally. So we just get on a plane—"

"**No," Zeus said sternly. "No plane."**

**Percy looked confused.**

"No!" Grover shrieked. "Percy, what are you thinking? Have you ever been on a plane in your life?"  
I shook my head, feeling embarrassed. My mom had never taken me anywhere by plane. She'd always  
said we didn't have the money. Besides, her parents had died in a plane crash.  
"Percy, think," Chiron said. "You are the son of the Sea God. Your father's bitterest rival is Zeus, Lord  
of the Sky. Your mother knew better than to trust you in an airplane. You would be in Zeus's domain.  
You would never come down again alive."

**Percy felt himself develop a sudden fear of airplanes.**

Overhead, lightning crackled. Thunder boomed.  
"Okay," I said, determined not to look at the storm. "So, I'll travel overland."  
"That's right," Chiron said. "Two companions may accompany you. Grover is one. The other has already  
volunteered, if you will accept her help."  
"Gee," I said, feigning surprise. "Who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a quest like this?"  
The air shimmered behind Chiron.  
Annabeth became visible, stuffing her Yankees cap into her back pocket.  
"I've been waiting a long time for a quest, seaweed brain," she said. "Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if  
you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up."

"**What an ego," Percy said, his eyes wide. "Annabeth, can you duck a bit? I find that I can't see pass your big head."**

**Annabeth punched him hard on the shoulder. "It's the truth, Seaweed Brain. And you know it."**

**Percy, rubbing his shoulder, admitted that she would be a good addition to the team. **

"If you do say so yourself," I said. "I suppose you have a plan, wise girl?"  
Her cheeks colored. "Do you want my help or not?"  
The truth was, I did. I needed all the help I could get.  
"A trio," I said. "That'll work."  
"Excellent," Chiron said. "This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After  
that, you are on your own."  
Lightning flashed. Rain poured down on the meadows that were never supposed to have violent  
weather.  
"No time to waste," Chiron said. "I think you should all get packing."

"**That's it," Reyna said. "Who is next?"**


	10. I Ruin a Perfectly Good School Bus

I RUIN A PERFECTLY  
GOOD BUS

"**Again?" Percy frowned. "I'm making a habit of this."**

"**Well at least we know the quest won't be boring," Reyna smirked.**

**Percy grimaced at her.**

It didn't take me long to pack. I decided to leave the Minotaur horn in my cabin, which left me only an extra change of clothes and a toothbrush to stuff in a backpack Grover had found for me.

"**Where did you get the backpack?" Percy asked.**

**Grover shrugged. "Most likely from the Hermes campers. They are always giving out stuff for people of quests."**

The camp store loaned me one hundred dollars in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas. These coins were as big as Girl Scout cookies and had images of various Greek gods stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other.

"**Cool," Percy smiled. "I want to see one."**

"**Here," Annabeth took out a gold drachma and threw it to Percy, who caught it. "Knock yourself out."**

**Percy inspected the gold coin as they read on.**

The ancient mortal drachmas had been silver, Chiron told us, but Olympians never used less than pure gold. Chiron said the coins might come in handy for non-mortal transactions—whatever that meant.

**Annabeth and Athena rolled their eyes.**

He gave Annabeth and me each a canteen of nectar and a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies, if we were seriously hurt. It was god food, Chiron reminded us. It would cure us of almost any injury, but it was lethal to mortals. Too much of it would make a half-blood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn us up, literally.

"**Literally," Percy said. "Meaning we'd burst into flames."**

"**That's right," Aphrodite said.**

"**I've never actually seen anyone stupid enough to do it, though," Athena mused.**

"**Maybe Jackson can be the first," Ares said, a vicious grin on his face.**

Annabeth was bringing her magic Yankees cap, which she told me had been a twelfth-birthday present from her mom. She carried a book on famous classical architecture, written in Ancient Greek, to read when she got bored,

"**Reading that would make you bored," Percy said.**

"**Maybe for **_**you**_**," Annabeth snapped.**

"**Nah, I have to agree with Percy on this one," Jason grinned. "That book sounds lame."**

**Annabeth glared furiously at them, muttering harsh Greek swears under her breath.**

and a long bronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve. I was sure the knife would get us busted the first time we went through a metal detector.

Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore a green Rasta style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on.

"**Sounds tasty," Aphrodite said dryly.**

"**It is," Grover said, missing the sarcasm.**

In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 12 and Hilary Duff's "So Yesterday,"

"**Really, Grover?" Percy said incredulously. "Hilary Duff on reed pipes?"**

"**It sounds good," Grover defended.**

**Behind him, Annabeth shook her head slowly at Percy, mouthing 'no, it doesn't'.**

both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes.

**Grover glared at everyone who was sniggering. "You humans don't know the beauty of the reed pipes. All you care about is skinning animals to make drum sets."**

"**They don't make drums out of animal skin anymore, Grover," Annabeth said.**

"**Whatever," Grover said, still irritated.**

We waved good-bye to the other campers, took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hiked up Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus.

"**Still think that's weird," Percy said. "Turning a little girl into a pine tree."**

"**It's not the first time it's happened," Athena said. "And it won't be the last. Maybe mortals should learn to not disrespect the gods."**

"**How did she disrespect you?" Annabeth demanded.**

"_**She**_** was an exception," Athena said. "She did nothing to disrespect us. But she needed to go."**

Chiron was waiting for us in his wheelchair. Next to him stood the surfer dude I'd seen when I was recovering in the sick room. According to Grover, the guy was the camp's head of security. He supposedly had eyes all over his body so he could never be surprised.

"_**All**_** over his body?" Jason said, raising one eyebrow. "Even his butt?"**

"**I don't know," Annabeth said, looking at him weirdly. "I never asked."**

"**I don't think he does," Reyna said. "I mean, how would he sit down?"**

Today, though, he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so I could only see extra peepers on his hands, face and neck.

"This is Argus," Chiron told me. "He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things."

I heard footsteps behind us.

Luke came running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes.

"Hey!" he panted. "Glad I caught you."

Annabeth blushed, the way she always did when Luke was around.

"**I do not blush when he's around!" Annabeth protested.**

**Percy rolled his eyes. "Then why would I say you're blushing?"**

"**To get me mad," Annabeth said, "and it's working so **_**stop**_** before I run you through with my dagger!"**

"**I'm sorry but I can't **_**stop**_** noting what I see in my thoughts," Percy said. "And if I wanted to get you mad I wouldn't **_**think**_** it, I would actually say it out loud."**

**Grover glanced uneasily at his two friends, wishing they would just stop fighting.**

"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told me. "And I thought ... um, maybe you could use these."

He handed me the sneakers, which looked pretty nor-mal. They even smelled kind of normal.

"**He hands you a pair of shoes and you smell them?" Artemis said. "Is that normal?"**

"**Not at all," Athena said.**

**Artemis inspected Percy. "It must be a boy thing."**

Luke said, "Maia!"

White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, startling me so much, I dropped them. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared.

"**Cool!" Percy said, amazed.**

"**It's awesome!" Grover agreed.**

**Annabeth was smiling smugly at Artemis. "See? He's **_**helping**_** Percy, not planning on killing him."**

"**Hermes' children were always good at acting," Artemis said airily. "Maybe there is more to those shoes then the eye can see."**

"Awesome!" Grover said.

Luke smiled. "Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days..." His expression turned sad.

I didn't know what to say. It was cool enough that Luke had come to say good-bye. I'd been afraid he might resent me for getting so much attention the last few days.

"**Luke's not like that," Annabeth said, smiling. "See? You can trust him, Percy."**

"**Alright, alright, I get it, Wise Girl," Percy said, exasperated. "Luke isn't out to get me."**

But here he was giving me a magic gift...

It made me blush almost as much as Annabeth.

"**Almost," Grover smirked at the blushing Annabeth.**

"Hey, man," I said. "Thanks."

"Listen, Percy ..." Luke looked uncomfortable. "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just ... kill some monsters for me, okay?"

We shook hands. Luke patted Grover's head between his horns, then gave a good-bye hug to

Annabeth, who looked like she might pass out.

"**No I didn't!" Poor Annabeth looked mortified.**

"**You are blinded by your love to see that Luke is playing you three like the violin," Artemis said sharply. "Open your eyes, Daughter of Athena."**

"**Luke isn't the friend that betrays Percy," Annabeth said sharply. "And I don't **_**love**_** Luke!"**

"**Really?" Artemis said, raising one eyebrow.**

"**Do you want to?" Aphrodite asked. "I can make you love him, you know. It'll only be better for my love triangle I'm planning."**

"**No!" Annabeth and Athena snapped.**

After Luke was gone, I told her, "You're hyperventilating."

**Annabeth glared at Percy. "You are so **_**infuriating**_**!"**

"**Whoa," Percy said. "That's a big word."**

"_**Aurgh!**_**"**

"Am not."

"You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?"

"Oh ... why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy?"

She stomped down the other side of the hill, where a white SUV waited on the shoulder of the road.

"**Whoa, Annabeth, it was just a joke," Percy said angrily.**

"**I don't see anyone laughing," Annabeth snapped.**

"**Probably because you glare at them until they stop!"**

"**No one should laugh at something so stupid!"**

"**Why not?"**

"**Because they're stupid, Seaweed Brain!"**

"**Whoa, guys," Jason said, his smirk slipping from his face. "It isn't that serious."**

"**Tell that to her," Percy said angrily. "All she does is be serious. She doesn't know how to loosen up."**

"**Loosen up?" Annabeth said, her voice reaching a dangerous octave. "You're really asking for it, Jackson!"**

**Meanwhile, the gods were betting on who would win the fight.**

"**My son, of course," Poseidon bragged.**

"**I say the girl," Zeus said.**

"**Nah, the boy might be a wimp but he's still a boy," Ares grinned. "I say Jackson is going to win."**

"**How sexist is that?" Artemis scoffed. "Just because he's a boy you think he's going to win? I'll tell you this, my hunters can take down anyone in your cabin."**

"**Yeah, by shooting arrows from a couple of yards away," Ares said. "My kids do hand and hand combat. The way it **_**should**_** be."**

"**I say my daughter is going to win," Athena said. "She has wisdom on her side."**

"**Does it really matter?" Aphrodite rolled her eyes at the gods. "I mean, either way they are going to end up kissing in the end."**

"**What!" Athena said. Lightning flashed.**

"**Oh calm down, Athena," Aphrodite said. "Not necessarily after this fight. That'll be too soon, and it won't be interesting at all. No, I already have it all planned out…"**

**To Ares' dismay, there was no fighting. But that was because Reyna somehow managed to calm the two down – but not enough. The had moved so far from each other that it left the others no choice but to sit between them.**

Argus followed, jingling his car keys.

I picked up the flying shoes and had a sudden bad feeling. I looked at Chiron. "I won't be able to use these, will I?"

"**Nope," Zeus said.**

**Percy frowned, disappointed.**

He shook his head. "Luke meant well, Percy. But taking to the air ... that would not be wise for you."

I nodded, disappointed, but then I got an idea. "Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?"

**Grover's eyes watered. "Really?"**

"**Of course, G-Man," Percy said. "You're my friend."**

His eyes lit up. "Me?"

Pretty soon we'd laced the sneakers over his fake feet, and the world's first flying goat boy was ready for launch.

**Jason and a few male gods snickered at this, but Grover was too happy to care.**

"Maia!" he shouted.

He got off the ground okay, but then fell over sideways so his backpack dragged through the grass. The winged shoes kept bucking up and down like tiny broncos.

"Practice," Chiron called after him. "You just need practice!"

"Aiwa!" Grover went flying sideways down the hill like a possessed lawn mower,

**Jason let out a full blown laugh and Reyna couldn't help but laugh with him.**

"**A possessed lawn mower?" Athena said doubtfully.**

**Percy shrugged. "That's future me."**

heading toward the van.

Before I could follow, Chiron caught my arm. "I should have trained you better, Percy," he said. "If only I had more time. Hercules, Jason—they all got more training."

"**What?" Jason stopped laughing and frowned. "I've never met Chiron before."**

"**He means the other Jason," Zeus said. "The one I named you after."**

"**Oh."**

"That's okay. I just wish—"

I stopped myself because I was about to sound like a brat. I was wishing my dad had given me a cool magic item to help on the quest, something as good as Luke's flying shoes, or Annabeth's invisible cap.

"**I did give you a gift," Poseidon smiled. "I gave it to Chiron to give it to you."**

"**Then why didn't I get it yet?" Percy said suspiciously.**

"**I don't know."**

"What am I thinking?" Chiron cried. "I can't let you get away without this."

"**I guess he just forgot."**

He pulled a pen from his coat pocket and handed it to me. It was an ordinary disposable ballpoint, black ink, removable cap. Probably cost thirty cents.

"**Thanks," Percy said, unable to hide his sarcasm.**

"**Your welcome."**

"Gee," I said. "Thanks."

"Percy, that's a gift from your father. I've kept it for years, not knowing you were who I was waiting for. But the prophecy is clear to me now. You are the one."

I remembered the field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, when I'd vaporized Mrs. Dodds. Chiron had thrown me a pen that turned into a sword. Could this be ... ?

"**Yup," Poseidon said proudly. "It is."**

I took off the cap, and the pen grew longer and heavier in my hand. In half a second, I held a shimmering bronze sword with a double-edged blade, a leather-wrapped grip, and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs.

It was the first weapon that actually felt balanced in my hand.

"**Whoa," Percy said, his jaw hitting the floor. "That's so awesome."**

"**It's like my sword," Jason said, taking out a gold coin and flipping it. But when he caught it back in his hand it was instead a golden sword.**

"**Awesome," Percy said again. "Are most weapons like that?"**

"**No, it's really rare," Annabeth said.**

"The sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into," Chiron told me. "Its name is Anaklusmos."

"**Riptide," Annabeth and Percy said.**

"**What?" Jason asked.**

"**Riptide," Percy said, surprised that he knew this. "It's an English translation."**

"'Riptide,'" I translated, surprised the Ancient Greek came so easily.

"Use it only for emergencies," Chiron said, "and only against monsters. No hero should harm mortals unless absolutely necessary, of course, but this sword wouldn't harm them in any case."

I looked at the wickedly sharp blade. "What do you mean it wouldn't harm mortals? How could it not?"

"The sword is celestial bronze. Forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, cooled in the River Lethe. It's deadly to monsters, to any creature from the Underworld, provided they don't kill you first. But the blade will pass through mortals like an illusion. They simply are not important enough for the blade to kill.

**Percy felt angry at this. "That's not right. Just because they don't have some other breed in them doesn't mean they're not important."**

"**It's just the way it is," Athena said. "You can't change it."**

And I should warn you: as a demigod, you can be killed by either celestial or normal weapons. You are twice as vulnerable."

"Good to know."

"Now recap the pen."

I touched the pen cap to the sword tip and instantly Riptide shrank to a ballpoint pen again. I tucked it in my pocket, a little nervous, because I was famous for losing pens at school.

**Poseidon smiled. "You can't lose the pen," he assured his son. "It'll always find it's way back to you."**

"**How?" Percy asked.**

"**It reapers in your pocket," Poseidon explained.]**

"**And if I don't have pockets?"**

"**You should if you're carrying around a weapon. But if you don't, then it would reappear in the pocket of the last pants you wore."**

"You can't," Chiron said.

"Can't what?"

"Lose the pen," he said. "It is enchanted. It will always reappear in your pocket. Try it."

I was wary, but I threw the pen as far as I could down the hill and watched it disappear in the grass.

"It may take a few moments," Chiron told me. "Now check your pocket."

Sure enough, the pen was there.

"Okay, that's extremely cool," I admitted. "But what if a mortal sees me pulling out a sword?"

Chiron smiled. "Mist is a powerful thing, Percy."

"Mist?"

"Yes. Read The Iliad. It's full of references to the stuff. Whenever divine or monstrous elements mix with the mortal world, they generate Mist, which obscures the vision of humans. You will see things just as they are, being a half-blood, but humans will interpret things quite differently. Remarkable, really, the lengths to which humans will go to fit things into their version of reality."

**Percy looked shocked. "He actually explained something to me!"**

"**He's a teacher," Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Of **_**course**_** he'll explain something to you. It's his job."**

"**Well he wasn't doing his job in the beginning." Percy defended.**

"**You were asking stupid questions!"**

"**They were reasonable questions! How was I supposed to know that the weather skirted around the camp?"**

"**It's only common sense," Annabeth rolled her eyes again. "Did you really think we'd eat in the rain?"**

"**A camp full of half god have humans whose ideas of fun is climbing up a large rock that bangs together and spits lava," Percy said in a mock thoughtful expression. "You're right, how could I assume they would eat in the rain?"**

"**It may be weird to you but it's perfectly normal for us," Annabeth snapped. "Just because **_**you**_** find something weird doesn't mean it is."**

"**I'm not calling you weird," Percy knew his face was red with anger. "I'm just saying you could have explained stuff to me. Like you weren't confused when you first went to camp."**

"**I knew what I was," Annabeth said. "And I did ask questions-"**

"**Exactly," Percy said.**

"**But I didn't ask stupid ones."**

"**So you didn't ask why the clouds separated over the valley?"**

"**No," Annabeth sniffed. "It's obviously magic. Not really surprising either, considering we're **_**demigods**_**."**

I put Riptide back in my pocket.

For the first time, the quest felt real. I was actually leaving Half-Blood Hill. I was heading west with no adult supervision, no backup plan, not even a cell phone. (Chiron said cell phones were traceable by monsters; if we used one, it would be worse than sending up a flare.)

"**I'm going to be an adult and I won't be able to have a cell phone," Percy grumbled. "**_**Great**_**."**

I had no weapon stronger than a sword to fight off monsters and reach the Land of the Dead.

"Chiron ..." I said. "When you say the gods are immortal... I mean, there was a time before them, right?"

"Four ages before them, actually. The Time of the Titans was the Fourth Age, sometimes called the Golden Age, which is definitely a misnomer. This, the time of Western civilization and the rule of Zeus, is the Fifth Age."

"So what was it like ... before the gods?"

Chiron pursed his lips. "Even I am not old enough to remember that, child, but I know it was a time of darkness and savagery for mortals. Kronos, the lord of the Titans, called his reign the Golden Age because men lived innocent and free of all knowledge. But that was mere propaganda. The Titan king cared nothing for your kind except as appetizers or a source of cheap entertainment. It was only in the early reign of Lord Zeus, when Prometheus the good Titan brought fire to mankind, that your species began to progress, and even then Prometheus was branded a radical thinker. Zeus punished him severely, as you may recall.

"**Of course," Zeus said. "He did it without my permission."**

Of course, eventually the gods warmed to humans, and Western civilization was born."

"But the gods can't die now, right?

"**We don't die," Athena said. "Some fade, but never die."**

"**Fade?" Percy wondered.**

"**Meaning that if humans forget about them, then they would no longer exist." Athena said. "Or maybe neglect what the god is made for. For example, if the humans somehow became dull and didn't use their brains to find any wisdom, I would fade."**

"**And if they stopped loving," Aphrodite said. "I would fade."**

"**And if they forgot about the sea and used it as a waste dump," Poseidon said. "I would fade."**

"**So you have to depend on humans," Percy said.**

**The gods found this difficult to admit, but they slowly nodded their heads.**

I mean, as long as Western civilization is alive, they're alive. So ... even if I failed, nothing could happen so bad it would mess up everything, right?"

Chiron gave me a melancholy smile. "No one knows how long the Age of the West will last, Percy. The gods are immortal, yes. But then, so were the Titans. They still exist, locked away in their various prisons, forced to endure end-less pain and punishment, reduced in power, but still very much alive. May the Fates forbid that the gods should ever suffer such a doom, or that we should ever return to the darkness and chaos of the past. All we can do, child, is follow our destiny."

"Our destiny ... assuming we know what that is."

"Relax," Chiron told me. "Keep a clear head. And remember, you may be about to prevent the biggest war in human history."

"**That's relaxing," Percy frowned. "Why would he tell me that?"**

"**He wants you to be proud," Annabeth said. "You should be. This is a very important quest."**

"**Yeah, you might even be put on my 'impressed enough' list if you succeed," Ares added.**

"Relax," I said. "I'm very relaxed."

When I got to the bottom of the hill, I looked back. Under the pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus, Chiron was now standing in full horse-man form, holding his bow high in salute. Just your typical summer-camp send-off by your typical centaur.

**Jason grinned.**

* * *  
Argus drove us out of the countryside and into western Long Island. It felt weird to be on a highway again, Annabeth and Grover sitting next to me as if we were nor-mal carpoolers. After two weeks at Half-Blood Hill, the real world seemed like a fantasy.

"**I know what you mean," Annabeth said. "It feels really weird."**

I found myself staring at every McDonald's, every kid in the back of his parents' car, every billboard and shopping mall.

"So far so good," I told Annabeth. "Ten miles and not a single monster."

"**I can't believe you just said that," Athena said, rolling her eyes and – for a moment – looking very much like Annabeth.**

"**Why, what's wrong?" Percy said.**

"**It's bad luck," Athena said.**

"**Oh… well, bad luck seems to always stick on me so I don't really see a problem in saying that."**

She gave me an irritated look. "It's bad luck to talk that way, seaweed brain."

"Remind me again—why do you hate me so much?"

"I don't hate you."

"Could've fooled me."

She folded her cap of invisibility. "Look ... we're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals."

"Why?"

"**Why?" Athena scoffed. "You mean **_**why not**_**?"**

"**Yeah, everything we do we end up clashing into each other," Poseidon said. "We just don't work well together."**

She sighed. "How many reasons do you want? One time my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena's temple, which is hugely disrespectful.

"**Madusa," Poseidon said. "She used to be very beautiful."**

**Athena looked grimly satisfied. "**_**Used to be**_**."**

"**Madusa?" Percy looked a bit green. "She was your girlfriend?"**

**Poseidon shrugged, not bothered by the disgusted looks he was getting. "She was beautiful."**

"**You shouldn't have been in my temple with her," Athena said, wrinkling her nose.**

**Poseidon shrugged again.**

Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god for the city of Athens.

"**Three guessed who won," Zeus drawled.**

**Poseidon still looked upset by this.**

Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift.

"**Stupid?" Poseidon looked murderous. Thunder boomed in the background. "You better watch what you say, Daughter of Athena, because I am not a god you should disrespect."**

"**She was speaking her mind, Poseidon," Athena said calmly. "Make sure you do not threaten my daughter."**

**Poseidon glared furiously at Annabeth, who was staring at the ground, paler than normal. Percy shifted uncomfortably.**

My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better,

"**You mean they **_**thought**_** her gift was better," Poseidon corrected, still irritated.**

"**She is speaking her mind," Athena said, a hint of a warning in her tone.**

"**Doesn't make it any less disrespectful or dangerous."**

so they named the city after her."

"They must really like olives."

"Oh, forget it."

"Now, if she'd invented pizza—that I could understand."

"I said, forget it!"

**Everyone (except Zeus, Athena and Annabeth) were laughing- even Artemis was laughing, but to Athena's dismay.**

"**Pizza," Athena said in disdain.**

**Percy shrugged. "Olives are cool, but everyone loves pizza."**

In the front seat, Argus smiled. He didn't say anything, but one blue eye on the back of his neck winked at me.

"**I can't believe Argus took your side!" Annabeth said, insulted.**

"**Like I said: Olives are cool, but **_**everyone**_** likes Pizza."**

Traffic slowed us down in Queens. By the time we got into Manhattan it was sunset and starting to rain.

Argus dropped us at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side, not far from my mom and Gabe's apart-mint. Taped to a mailbox was a soggy flyer with my picture on it: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOY?

**Percy groaned. "Great."**

"**That's not going to help you on your quest," Athena frowned. "You need to be more careful now."**

"**What do you want me to do?" Percy asked. "Wear a ski-mask? Because **_**that's**_** not suspicious at all."**

"**I just meant to be more vigilant," Athena snapped.**

I ripped it down before Annabeth and Grover could notice.

Argus unloaded our bags, made sure we got our bus tickets, then drove away, the eye on the back of his hand opening to watch us as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"**I wonder what the humans would see instead of a bunch of eyes," Artemis said.**

"**Probably a bunch of tattoos," Reyna said. "They've seen weirder things – especially in New York."**

I thought about how close I was to my old apartment. On a normal day, my mom would be home from the candy store by now. Smelly Gabe was probably up there right now, playing poker, not even missing her.

**Percy and Poseidon glowered.**

"**She deserves better," Poseidon said, and Percy nodded in agreement.**

Grover shouldered his backpack. He gazed down the street in the direction I was looking. "You want to know why she married him, Percy?"

I stared at him. "Were you reading my mind or some-thing?"

"Just your emotions." He shrugged. "Guess I forgot to tell you satyrs can do that. You were thinking about your mom and your stepdad, right?"

I nodded, wondering what else Grover might've forgot-ten to tell me.

"**Nothing off the top of my head," Grover said.**

"Your mom married Gabe for you," Grover told me. "You call him 'Smelly,' but you've got no idea. The guy has this aura…. Yuck. I can smell him from here. I can smell traces of him on you, and you haven't been near him for a week."

"Thanks," I said. "Where's the nearest shower?"

**Annabeth rolled her eyes but allowed herself a fond smile – which fell when she seen Aphrodite looking over at her with interest.**

"You should be grateful, Percy. Your stepfather smells so repulsively human he could mask the presence of any demigod. As soon as I took a whiff inside his Camaro, I knew: Gabe has been covering your scent for years. If you hadn't lived with him every summer, you probably would've been found by monsters a long time ago. Your mom stayed with him to protect you.

"**She's smart," Artemis looked very sad. "Why didn't I find her sooner?"**

"**Because she wasn't meant to be a Huntress," Poseidon said.**

"**As much as I'd hate to admit it," Athena allowed reluctantly. "What he says is the truth. The Fates do everything for a reason. Percy was meant to be born."**

She was a smart lady. She must've loved you a lot to put up with that guy—if that makes you feel any better."

It didn't, but I forced myself not to show it. I'll see her again, I thought. She isn't gone.

I wondered if Grover could still read my emotions, mixed up as they were.

"**I still would be able to," Grover said, scratching the back of his neck. "But they'll be hard to untangle and I normally don't bother."**

I was glad he and Annabeth were with me, but I felt guilty that I hadn't been straight with them. I hadn't told them the real reason I'd said yes to this crazy quest.

"**I would have gone anyways," Grover said. "I have to finish a quest with someone – and you're the only one who would take me."**

"**And I bet I already know you're only taking the quest to save your mom," Annabeth said. "I'm good at reading people's emotions."**

"**Annabeth?" Percy said.**

"**Yes?"**

"**Your head is growing again."**

The truth was, I didn't care about retrieving Zeus's lightning bolt,

**Zeus' eyes swiveled around to glare at the young demigod.**

or saving the world, or even helping my father out of trouble.

**Poseidon frowned.**

The more I thought about it, I resented Poseidon for never visiting me, never helping my mom, never even sending a lousy child-support check. He'd only claimed me because he needed a job done.

All I cared about was my mom. Hades had taken her unfairly, and Hades was going to give her back.

**Though Ares doubted the boy would be able to get his mother back, he had to be impressed by his courage.**

You will be betrayed by one who calls you a friend, the Oracle whispered in my mind. You will fail to save what matters most in the end.

Shut up, I told it.

**Percy was sent uneasy glances.**

"**Do you hear voices in your head, Percy?" Reyna said, feigning concern.**

"**Shut up," Percy said, blushing.**

The rain kept coming down.

We got restless waiting for the bus and decided to play some Hacky Sack with one of Grover's apples.

Annabeth was unbelievable.

**Annabeth smiled smugly at Percy, who rolled his eyes.**

She could bounce the apple off her knee, her elbow, her shoulder,  
whatever. I wasn't too bad myself.

**It was Annabeth's turn to roll her eyes.**

The game ended when I tossed the apple toward Grover and it got too close to his mouth. In one mega goat bite, our Hacky Sack disappeared—core, stem, and all.

**Grover blushed as everyone started to laugh.**

"**I'm sorry-"**

"**Whatever, G-Man," Percy laughed. "You're good comic relief."**

**Grover sighed.**

Grover blushed. He tried to apologize, but Annabeth and I were too busy cracking up.

Finally the bus came. As we stood in line to board, Grover started looking around, sniffing the air like he smelled his favorite school cafeteria delicacy—enchiladas.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said tensely. "Maybe it's nothing."

But I could tell it wasn't nothing. I started looking over my shoulder, too.

I was relieved when we finally got on board and found seats together in the back of the bus. We stowed our back-packs. Annabeth kept slapping her Yankees cap nervously against her thigh.

As the last passengers got on, Annabeth clamped her hand onto my knee.

**Ares and Aphrodite raised their eyebrows at Annabeth, who looked defiantly back at them, "What?"**

"**Nothing," Aphrodite smirked.**

"Percy."

An old lady had just boarded the bus. She wore a crumpled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadowed her face, and she carried a big paisley purse. When she tilted her head up, her black eyes glittered, and my heart skipped a beat.

It was Mrs. Dodds. Older, more withered, but definitely the same evil face.

"**Gross," Percy grimaced. "I **_**really**_** don't want her to be my teacher."**

I scrunched down in my seat.

Behind her came two more old ladies: one in a green hat, one in a purple hat. Otherwise they looked exactly like Mrs. Dodds—same gnarled hands, paisley handbags, wrinkled velvet dresses.

Triplet demon grandmothers.

**Jason snorted.**

They sat in the front row, right behind the driver. The two on the aisle crossed their legs over the  
walkway, making an X. It was casual enough, but it sent a clear message: nobody leaves.

The bus pulled out of the station, and we headed through the slick streets of Manhattan. "She didn't stay dead long," I said, trying to keep my voice from quivering. "I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime."

"**You said it yourself," Annabeth said defensively. "Bad luck sticks to you."**

"I said if you're lucky," Annabeth said. "You're obviously not."

"All three of them," Grover whimpered. "Di immortales!"

"It's okay," Annabeth said, obviously thinking hard. "The Furies. The three worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We'll just slip out the windows."

"They don't open," Grover moaned.

"A back exit?" she suggested.

There wasn't one. Even if there had been, it wouldn't have helped. By that time, we were on Ninth Avenue, heading for the Lincoln Tunnel.

"They won't attack us with witnesses around," I said. "Will they?"

"**Why are you three so desperate to run?" Ares said. "You're supposed to be heroes! Fight them!"**

"**Easy for you to say," Percy said. "All you have to do is snap your fingers and they're gone."**

**Ares shrugged. "I usually don't do that. I'm the war god! I need some action."**

"Mortals don't have good eyes," Annabeth reminded me. "Their brains can only process what they see through the Mist."

"They'll see three old ladies killing us, won't they?"

She thought about it. "Hard to say. But we can't count on mortals for help. Maybe an emergency exit in the roof ... ?"

We hit the Lincoln Tunnel, and the bus went dark except for the running lights down the aisle. It was eerily quiet without the sound of the rain.

Mrs. Dodds got up. In a flat voice, as if she'd rehearsed it, she announced to the whole bus: "I need to use the rest-room."

"So do I," said the second sister.

"So do I," said the third sister.

They all started coming down the aisle.

"**Why do they care to keep a cover up?" Percy wondered. "No one really cares if they need to use a restroom or not."**

**No one knew the answer.**

"I've got it," Annabeth said. "Percy, take my hat."

"What?"

"You're the one they want. Turn invisible and go up the aisle. Let them pass you. Maybe you can get to the front and get away."

"**I'm not going to leave you two," Percy said. "Nice try, though."**

"**It's you they want," Annabeth said. "You'll only put us in more danger."**

"**Your almost as convincing as my mom," Percy replied. "But it's not going to work. Three demigods have a better chance than two. Or – at least – two demigods and a satyr."**

"**He's right, you know," Ares said. "You and Grover won't stand a chance."**

"**Percy hardly had any training," Annabeth said. "I doubt he can do much."**

"**He's my son," Poseidon said. "Water is unpredictable – so don't try to underestimate Percy."**

"But you guys—"

"There's an outside chance they might not notice us," Annabeth said. "You're a son of one of the Big Three. Your smell might be overpowering."

"I can't just leave you."

"Don't worry about us," Grover said. "Go!"

"**Not you too," Percy groaned.**

My hands trembled. I felt like a coward, but I took the Yankees cap and put it on.

"**Well, you are one," Ares said. "You're hiding while your friends are going to risk their lives."**

**Percy glowered.**

When I looked down, my body wasn't there anymore.

I started creeping up the aisle. I managed to get up ten rows, then duck into an empty seat just as the Furies walked past.

Mrs. Dodds stopped, sniffing, and looked straight at me. My heart was pounding.

Apparently she didn't see anything. She and her sisters kept going.

I was free. I made it to the front of the bus. We were almost through the Lincoln Tunnel now. I was about to press the emergency stop button when I heard hideous wailing from the back row.

"**No, Percy," Annabeth said furiously. "**_**Keep going**_**."**

"**No, Book-Percy," Percy said. "**_**Stay there**_**."**

The old ladies were not old ladies anymore. Their faces were still the same—I guess those couldn't get any uglier— but their bodies had shriveled into leathery brown hag bodies with bat's wings and hands and feet like gargoyle claws. Their handbags had turned into fiery whips.

The Furies surrounded Grover and Annabeth, lashing their whips, hissing: "Where is it? Where?"

"**It?" Athena paused. "What do they mean?"**

"**They probably meant me," Percy shrugged, not really bothered by this but really worrying about his friends.**

"**Probably," Athena said doubtfully**

The other people on the bus were screaming, cowering in their seats. They saw something, all right.

"He's not here!" Annabeth yelled. "He's gone!"

The Furies raised their whips.

Annabeth drew her bronze knife. Grover grabbed a tin can from his snack bag and prepared to throw it.

"**That'll scare them," Ares said dryly.**

**Grover looked embarrassed.**

What I did next was so impulsive and dangerous I should've been named ADHD poster child of the year.

The bus driver was distracted, trying to see what was going on in his rearview mirror.  
Still invisible, I grabbed the wheel from him and jerked it to the left. Everybody howled as they were thrown to the right, and I heard what I hoped was the sound of three Furies smashing against the windows.

**Percy let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.**

"Hey!" the driver yelled. "Hey—whoa!"

We wrestled for the wheel. The bus slammed against the side of the tunnel, grinding metal, throwing sparks a mile behind us.

We careened out of the Lincoln Tunnel and back into the rainstorm, people and monsters tossed around the bus, cars plowed aside like bowling pins.

Somehow the driver found an exit. We shot off the highway, through half a dozen traffic lights, and ended up barreling down one of those New Jersey rural roads where you can't believe there's so much nothing right across the river from New York. There were woods to our left, the Hudson River to our right, and the driver seemed to be veering toward the river.

"**I don't know which would be safer," Reyna frowned. "On one hand you would be stuck in a bus with a bunch of panicking passengers while you plunge into water and most likely drown. On the other hand you'll crash into a bunch of trees and most likely get a concussion."**

"**The trees sound a bit safer," Percy said.**

Another great idea: I hit the emergency brake.

The bus wailed, spun a full circle on the wet asphalt, and crashed into the trees. The emergency lights came on. The door flew open. The bus driver was the first one out, the passengers yelling as they stampeded after him. I stepped into the driver's seat and let them pass.

The Furies regained their balance. They lashed their whips at Annabeth while she waved her knife and yelled in Ancient Greek, telling them to back off. Grover threw tin cans.

I looked at the open doorway. I was free to go, but I couldn't leave my friends.

**Annabeth groaned but Poseidon smiled in approval.**

"**Distracting them is your best chance," Jason said.**

I took off the invisible cap. "Hey!"

The Furies turned, baring their yellow fangs at me, and the exit suddenly seemed like an excellent idea.

**Ares snorted. "Punk."**

Mrs. Dodds stalked up the aisle, just as she used to do in class, about to deliver my F- math test. Every time she flicked her whip, red flames danced along the barbed leather.

Her two ugly sisters hopped on top of the seats on either side of her and crawled toward me like huge nasty lizards.

"Perseus Jackson,"

**Percy grimaced at the sound of his full name.**

Mrs. Dodds said, in an accent that was definitely from somewhere farther south than Georgia. "You have offended the gods. You shall die."

"I liked you better as a math teacher," I told her.

**Annabeth fought the smile creeping up her face. "You'll only anger her."**

"**That's what I was going for," Percy replied.**

She growled.

Annabeth and Grover moved up behind the Furies cautiously, looking for an opening.

I took the ballpoint pen out of my pocket and un-capped it. Riptide elongated into a shimmering  
double-edged sword.

The Furies hesitated.

Mrs. Dodds had felt Riptide's blade before. She obviously didn't like seeing it again.

**Percy smiled smugly at Annabeth, who grimaced at him.**

"**Admit it," Percy said. "You needed my help."**

"**No I didn't."**

"**Yes you did."**

"**No I didn't."**

"**Yes **_**you did**_**."**

"**No I-"**

"**Annabeth," Grover cut in. "We did need his help."**

**Annabeth glowered at the both of them and turned back to the book, her arms crossed.**

"Submit now," she hissed. "And you will not suffer eternal torment."

"Nice try," I told her.

"Percy, look out!" Annabeth cried.

"**Someone's worried for their Seaweed Brain," Aphrodite smirked.**

"**He's not **_**my**_** Seaweed Brain," Annabeth snapped. "And of course I was worried – he's my friend."**

"**Just your friend?"**

"**Yes," Annabeth said firmly, keeping the picture of Luke in her head.**

Mrs. Dodds lashed her whip around my sword hand while the Furies on the either side lunged at me.

My hand felt like it was wrapped in molten lead, but I managed not to drop Riptide.

**Ares raised one eyebrow. "Impressive… for a demigod."**

**Percy had to bite down his anger at this.**

I stuck the Fury on the left with its hilt, sending her toppling backward into a seat. I turned and sliced the Fury on the right.

As soon as the blade connected with her neck, she screamed and exploded into dust. Annabeth got Mrs. Dodds in a wrestler's hold and yanked her backward while Grover ripped the whip out of her hands.

"Ow!" he yelled. "Ow! Hot! Hot!"

"**What did you expect?" Artemis asked. "She flicked it and there was fire."**

"**Well, I don't know," Grover said, blushing at being addressed by **_**Artemis**_**. "Percy touched it…"**

The Fury I'd hilt-slammed came at me again, talons ready, but I swung Riptide and she broke open like a piñata.

Mrs. Dodds was trying to get Annabeth off her back. She kicked, clawed, hissed and bit, but Annabeth held on while Grover got Mrs. Dodds's legs tied up in her own whip.

"**You kept hold too?" Ares looked like he couldn't believe his ears. "Well done, satyr."**

**Grover blushed at the praise.**

Finally they both shoved her backward into the aisle. Mrs. Dodds tried to get up, but she didn't have room to flap her bat wings, so she kept falling down.

"Zeus will destroy you!" she promised. "Hades will have your soul!"

"Braccas meas vescimini!" I yelled.

"**That's Latin," Jason said, giving Percy a weird look.**

"**What does it mean?" Percy asked.**

**Annabeth started to crack up and Jason joined her. "It means 'eat my pants'."**

"**Oh…"**

I wasn't sure where the Latin came from. I think it meant "Eat my pants!"

Thunder shook the bus. The hair rose on the back of my neck.

"Get out!" Annabeth yelled at me. "Now!" I didn't need any encouragement.

We rushed outside and found the other passengers wandering around in a daze, arguing with the driver, or running around in circles yelling, "We're going to die!" A Hawaiian-shirted tourist with a camera snapped my photograph before I could recap my sword.

"**Great," Percy said angrily. "Why did he take my picture?"**

"**You had a giant weapon in your hands," Athena said. "Of course he'll take your picture."**

"**But they won't see it because of the Mist," Percy protested.**

"**They see **_**something**_**," Athena said. "They probably see a gun or a bat. Either way, it's still a weapon."**

"Our bags!" Grover realized. "We left our—"

BOOOOOM!

"**Great timing," Zeus said, causing the demigods to glare.**

The windows of the bus exploded as the passengers ran for cover. Lightning shredded a huge crater in the roof, but an angry wail from inside told me Mrs. Dodds was not yet dead.

"Run!" Annabeth said. "She's calling for reinforcements! We have to get out of here!"

"**And fast," Annabeth added.**

We plunged into the woods as the rain poured down, the bus in flames behind us, and nothing but darkness ahead.

"**That's it," Jason said. "I think we should take a break."**

"**Agreed." Everyone else replied.**


End file.
